Ahl-e-Hadith and Salafi scholars give the same Quranic shares as every Sunni school: a wife 1/8 with children, a daughter half a son's share, parents 1/6 each with children. Their results differ from the Hanafi ones in a few situations, mainly when the paternal grandfather is alive with brothers and sisters, when the father's mother is alive with the father, and when only a spouse is left.
The calculator above is set to those rulings. Some people look for this calculator under other names; the terms the scholars themselves use are Ahl-e-Hadith and Salafi. Ahl-e-Hadith has no single faraid manual of its own, so the rules below come from the fatwas named in the sources.
The four points where the result changes
1. The grandfather excludes brothers and sisters. When the father has died but the paternal grandfather (dada) is alive, he stands in the father's place and the full and paternal brothers and sisters get nothing. IslamQA (answer 240582) calls this the stronger view and names Abu Hanifa, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Baz, Ibn Uthaymeen and al-Fawzan as holding it. Imam Bukhari has a chapter on it, citing Abu Bakr and Ibn Abbas. The official Hanbali madhhab, with Malik and al-Shafi'i, lets the siblings share with him.
2. The paternal grandmother inherits with the father. The father's mother (dadi) takes 1/6, shared with the maternal grandmother if she is alive, even though her son is alive. This is the Hanbali position, and an Ahl-e-Hadith fatwa collection in Urdu states it as an exception to the usual rule. The Hanafi, Shafi'i and Maliki schools exclude her.
3. No radd to a spouse. If the only heir is a wife or husband, the spouse takes 1/4 or 1/2 and the rest goes to the public treasury. Ibn Uthaymeen explains that radd rests on kinship, and marriage is a contract, not kinship. Later Hanafi scholars give the rest to the spouse.
4. Distant relatives by tanzil. A daughter's children, a sister's children and aunts and uncles inherit, when no closer heir exists, by standing in the place of the heir through whom they are related. Men and women in the same line share equally, as in Zad al-Mustaqni'.
Worked example: grandfather with brothers and a sister
A man dies leaving Rs 5,000,000. His father died before him. His paternal grandfather, two full brothers and one full sister are alive.
| Heir | Ahl-e-Hadith | Hanbali madhhab |
|---|---|---|
| Paternal grandfather | All: Rs 5,000,000 | 1/3 = Rs 1,666,667 |
| Each full brother | Nothing | 4/15 = Rs 1,333,333 |
| Full sister | Nothing | 2/15 = Rs 666,667 |
In the Hanbali madhhab the grandfather takes whichever is better for him: sharing as a brother (2/7 here) or one third. One third is larger, so he takes it and the siblings share the rest, each brother twice the sister.
Worked example: the dadi alive with the father
A man leaves Rs 4,800,000, his wife, his father, his father's mother and one son.
- Ahl-e-Hadith and Hanbali: wife 1/8 = Rs 600,000; father 1/6 = Rs 800,000; dadi 1/6 = Rs 800,000; son the rest, 13/24 = Rs 2,600,000.
- Hanafi: the dadi is excluded by her son, so the son gets 17/24 = Rs 3,400,000.
Everything else in this case is identical across the schools. Use the school menu in the calculator to compare any family.
What stays the same as Hanafi fiqh
- The fixed shares of Surah an-Nisa, and sons taking twice daughters.
- 'Awl when the fixed shares exceed the whole, and radd of a surplus to blood relatives.
- The Umariyyatan: with a spouse and the father, the mother takes one third of what is left after the spouse.
- Al-Mushtaraka: with a husband, mother, two maternal half siblings and full brothers, the full brothers get nothing, as in the Hanbali and Hanafi schools.
- Grandchildren do not inherit while a son is alive. Section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 changes this in Pakistani courts; tick the MFLO box to see that result. The main inheritance calculator explains it.
Ahl-e-Hadith scholars do not all agree on the grandfather. Some follow the majority view that he shares with the brothers and sisters; to see that result, choose Hanbali in the school menu. Confirm the division with an Ahl-e-Hadith mufti before transferring property.
Questions from Ahl-e-Hadith families
Do Ahl-e-Hadith follow a madhhab for inheritance?
They take rulings from the Quran and Sunnah directly rather than from one school. In faraid their answers match the Hanbali school in most cases, and the Saudi scholars they read most often come from the Hanbali tradition. The main exception is the grandfather, where they follow Abu Bakr and Ibn Abbas.
Does the dada get the whole estate if there are no children or father?
In the Ahl-e-Hadith view, the paternal grandfather is treated like the father. With no children he takes the residue after any spouse and mother, and the deceased's brothers and sisters get nothing. With children he takes 1/6, plus the residue if there are only daughters.
What happens to the rest if only a wife is left?
She takes her quarter. The remaining three quarters have no heir in this view and go to the public treasury (bayt al-mal). Families usually ask a scholar how to spend it for the public good. Later Hanafi scholars instead return it to the wife.
How are a daughter's children treated?
They are distant kindred (dhawu al-arham) and inherit only if there is no sharer or residuary other than a spouse. They then take their mother's place, and brothers and sisters in that line share equally rather than two to one.
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Last reviewed 29 September 2026. Results are estimates; official notices always take precedence.