In Islamic law a wife gets 1/8 of her husband's estate if he left children and 1/4 if he did not, and a son gets twice a daughter's share. Enter the estate and the living heirs above, and the calculator applies every fixed share, the residue, the exclusion rules, 'awl and radd, and shows each heir's amount in rupees.
It starts on Hanafi fiqh, which most Muslims in Pakistan follow, Deobandi and Barelvi alike. Pick another school if the deceased followed one. Funeral costs, debts (including unpaid haq mehr) and the wasiyyat are taken out first: open that section of the form to enter them.
How to calculate inheritance (wirasat ki taqseem) step by step
Islamic inheritance is always worked out in the same order.
- Pay funeral and burial costs from the estate, at a normal level.
- Pay all debts: loans, unpaid bills, and any haq mehr still owed to the wife. Debts come before every heir.
- Carry out the wasiyyat (will), up to one third of what is left. In Sunni fiqh a bequest above one third, or to someone who is already an heir, needs the adult heirs' consent.
- Give the fixed shares (ashab al-furud). Spouse, parents, daughters, sisters and grandparents take fractions such as 1/8, 1/6, 1/2 or 2/3, set by Surah an-Nisa, verses 11, 12 and 176.
- Give the residue to the nearest male relative on the father's side (asaba), such as sons. Daughters with sons take half a son's share.
- Adjust if needed. If the fixed shares add up to more than the whole, each is cut in proportion ('awl). If something is left and there is no residuary, it goes back to the sharers other than the spouse (radd).
The calculator prints each step under 'Step by step working', including the base number (asl) and the corrected base (tashih) that muftis write in a fatwa.
Worked example: wife, mother, two sons and two daughters
A man dies leaving Rs 10,000,000 after his debts, a wife, his mother, two sons and two daughters. This is the example loaded in the calculator above, in Hanafi fiqh.
| Heir | Share | Each gets |
|---|---|---|
| Wife | 1/8, as there are children | Rs 1,250,000 |
| Mother | 1/6, as there are children | Rs 1,666,667 |
| Each son | 17/72 | Rs 2,361,111 |
| Each daughter | 17/144 | Rs 1,180,556 |
After the wife's 1/8 and the mother's 1/6, the residue is 17/24. Two sons and two daughters count as 6 parts, each son 2 and each daughter 1, so one part is 17/144 of the estate. On a common base of 144 the estate splits as: wife 18, mother 24, each son 34, each daughter 17.
When the shares add up to more than the estate ('awl)
A woman dies leaving Rs 2,400,000, her husband, her mother and two full sisters. The husband's 1/2, the mother's 1/6 (two sisters reduce her from 1/3) and the sisters' 2/3 add up to 8/6, which is more than the whole.
By 'awl the base 6 is raised to 8 and every share shrinks in proportion: husband 3/8 = Rs 900,000, mother 1/8 = Rs 300,000, each sister 1/4 = Rs 600,000.
Ja'fari fiqh has no 'awl. There the shortfall falls on the daughters or sisters, as shown on the Shia inheritance calculator.
How the schools of fiqh differ
The fixed shares in the Quran are the same for every school. The schools differ in a small number of situations, listed below. The calculator applies the column for the school you pick.
| Question | Hanafi | Shafi'i | Maliki | Hanbali | Ahl-e-Hadith | Shia Ja'fari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grandfather (dada) with brothers and sisters | Excludes them, like the father | Shares with them: best of sharing, one third or one sixth | Shares with them, as Shafi'i | Shares with them, as Shafi'i | Excludes them, like the father | Counted as a brother in the second class |
| Paternal grandmother (dadi) when the father is alive | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded | Inherits 1/6 | Inherits 1/6 | Excluded (first class present) |
| Surplus when only a spouse is left | Returned to the spouse (later fatwa) | Public treasury | Public treasury | Public treasury | Public treasury | Husband takes all; wife 1/4, rest to the Imam |
| Husband, mother, 2 maternal and full brothers (al-Mushtaraka) | Full brothers get nothing | Full brothers share the third | Full brothers share the third | Full brothers get nothing | Full brothers get nothing | Does not arise: the mother excludes all siblings |
| Husband, mother, grandfather, 2 maternal and paternal brothers (al-Malikiyya) | Grandfather takes the rest; brothers excluded | Grandfather 1/6, brothers 1/6 | Grandfather takes the last 1/3, brothers nothing | Grandfather 1/6, brothers 1/6 | Grandfather takes the rest; brothers excluded | Does not arise: the mother excludes all siblings |
| Distant kindred (nawase, bhanje, phuphi, mamu, khala) | By classes, Imam Muhammad's method | Tanzil, male twice female | Tanzil, male twice female | Tanzil, male and female equal | Tanzil, male and female equal | Ordinary heirs in the three classes |
| Fixed shares add up to more than the whole | 'Awl: all reduced in proportion | 'Awl | 'Awl | 'Awl | 'Awl | No 'awl: daughters or sisters bear the shortfall |
| Wife's share in land | Full share | Full share | Full share | Full share | Full share | None in the land; share of buildings and trees by value |
| Bequest (wasiyyat) to an heir | Only if the other heirs agree | Only if the other heirs agree | Only if the other heirs agree | Only if the other heirs agree | Only if the other heirs agree | Valid within one third |
Ahl-e-Hadith scholars mostly follow the Hanbali rulings, but side with Abu Hanifa, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Baz in holding that the grandfather excludes brothers and sisters. The Ahl-e-Hadith inheritance calculator explains the details.
Orphaned grandchildren (yateem pote) and MFLO section 4
In fiqh, a son's children do not inherit from their grandfather while a son of his is alive. Section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 changes this in Pakistani law: the children of a son or daughter who died before the grandparent take the share their parent would have taken.
Example. A man leaves Rs 6,000,000, one son, and the two daughters of a son who died before him. In Hanafi fiqh the living son takes all Rs 6,000,000. Under section 4 the late son is counted as if alive, so the two sons' lines get half each, and the late son's two daughters get Rs 1,500,000 each.
The Federal Shariat Court held section 4 against Islam in 2000 (Allah Rakha v Federation of Pakistan), but the appeal has been pending before the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court ever since, so courts still apply it. As reported in the press on 25 September 2026, the Federal Constitutional Court held that it covers only the children of a son or daughter, not a brother's children. Add the late son or daughter under 'Children of a son, daughter, brother or sister who died earlier' and tick the MFLO box to see both results.
Pakistani law: succession certificate and land mutation
Pakistani courts divide a Muslim's estate by the fiqh the deceased followed. Families usually need two documents.
- Succession certificate or letter of administration for bank accounts, shares, pension arrears and other movable assets. In Punjab, Islamabad, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, NADRA's Succession Facilitation Units issue these when all the heirs agree. If an heir objects, the case goes to the civil court under the Succession Act 1925.
- Inheritance mutation (intiqal virasat) for land. The revenue staff enter each heir's share in the record of rights (fard). The land inheritance calculator gives each share in kanal, marla and square feet.
Section 498A of the Pakistan Penal Code makes it an offence to deprive a woman of her inheritance by deceitful or illegal means. A sister or daughter can give up her share only after it is hers, freely and knowingly.
This calculator is a guide based on the standard rules of each school. It does not replace a fatwa. Confirm the division with a mufti of your school, or with your mujtahid's office if you are Shia, before transferring property. Unusual facts such as a disputed marriage or divorce, a missing person, a child in the womb, or an heir who caused the death change the answer.
Inheritance questions
How is property divided after death in Islam?
First the funeral costs, then debts, then the wasiyyat up to one third. What remains goes to the heirs: the spouse, parents, daughters and some others take fixed fractions, and the nearest male relatives on the father's side, usually sons, take the rest. The calculator does all of this and shows the working.
What is the wife's share if there are children?
One eighth (1/8) of the estate after debts and wasiyyat. If there are no children or son's children, she gets one quarter (1/4). Two, three or four wives share that same 1/8 or 1/4 equally. Her unpaid haq mehr is a debt, paid to her before the division.
Does a daughter get half of a son's share?
Yes, when she inherits together with sons: each son takes two parts and each daughter one. A single daughter with no son takes 1/2, and two or more daughters with no son share 2/3. What is left after that goes to the father, brothers or other residuaries, or back to the daughters by radd.
Do brothers and sisters inherit if the deceased had a son?
No. A son, a son's son or the father excludes full and paternal brothers and sisters in every Sunni school. With only daughters, a full sister takes the residue alongside them. In Shia fiqh any child, grandchild or parent excludes all brothers and sisters.
Do parents inherit from their son or daughter?
Yes. If the deceased left children, the father and mother each get 1/6. With no children, the mother gets 1/3 (or 1/6 if there are two or more siblings) and the father takes the rest. In the Sunni schools, when the only heirs are a spouse and both parents, the mother gets one third of what is left after the spouse.
Can the estate be divided before debts are paid?
The heirs' shares are worked out on what is left after the funeral costs, debts and the permitted wasiyyat. If the family divides the property first, each heir remains answerable for the debts in proportion to what they received. Unpaid haq mehr counts as a debt.
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Last reviewed 29 September 2026. Results are estimates; official notices always take precedence.