How to Calculate Islamic Inheritance in Pakistan: Shares, Rules & Examples
Learn how Islamic inheritance is calculated in Pakistan, including estate deductions, Faraid shares, residuary heirs, blocking, Awl and Radd, with practical examples.
By Khyrat Hussain · Updated 24 September 2026
Islamic inheritance, commonly called Faraid, is not simply a matter of dividing property equally among family members or giving a son twice as much as a daughter.
The calculation begins earlier: first determine what actually belongs to the deceased, settle relevant funeral expenses and debts, deal appropriately with any valid Wasiyyah (bequest), identify the eligible surviving heirs, apply fixed shares, and only then distribute any remaining estate to eligible residuary heirs.
The result can change substantially depending on who was alive when the deceased died. A wife, husband, father, mother, son, daughter or other closer heir can affect the entitlement of other relatives.
If you already know the estate value and surviving family structure, use the Islamic Inheritance Calculator Pakistan alongside this guide to estimate the supported shares in Pakistani rupees. HisaabKit's calculator covers fixed Faraid shares, residuary distribution, blocking, Awl and Radd for its supported heir combinations.
Quick answer: Do not divide the gross property immediately. Determine the deceased's actual estate, subtract applicable funeral/burial expenses and enforceable debts, account for a permitted Wasiyyah where relevant, and calculate the distributable estate. Then identify all eligible heirs and apply the relevant fixed and residuary shares.
1.Where do Islamic inheritance shares come from?
The central inheritance provisions are found in Surah An-Nisa, particularly verses 4:11, 4:12 and 4:176.
For example, Qur'an 4:11 addresses shares involving children and parents. It provides, among other rules, the well-known two-to-one relationship between a son and daughter when they inherit together in the relevant situation, while also prescribing shares for daughters and parents in specified family structures. Qur'an 4:12 addresses spouses and certain sibling situations and refers to distribution after bequests and debts.
These rules should not be reduced to one universal percentage table. The complete surviving family structure matters.
1.1.Step 1: Determine what actually belongs to the deceased
Before asking, “What percentage does each heir receive?”, establish the estate itself.
Suppose a house is worth Rs 20 million, but the deceased legally and beneficially owned only a 50% share.
The inheritance calculation should not automatically begin with Rs 20 million.
The deceased's verified share would be:
Rs 20,000,000 × 50% = Rs 10,000,000
That Rs 10 million—not necessarily the full Rs 20 million property value—is the relevant starting amount for that asset.
The same issue can arise with:
- jointly owned houses or land;
- bank accounts;
- businesses;
- investments; and
- other jointly held property.
HisaabKit therefore asks users to enter only the property and assets legally and beneficially owned by the deceased. Disputed ownership, nominee arrangements, incomplete gifts and uncertain jointly owned interests may require legal and scholarly review.
1.2.Step 2: Calculate the distributable estate
Inheritance shares should not simply be calculated from the gross estate.
HisaabKit's supported calculation follows this practical sequence:
Gross Estate
− Funeral/Burial Expenses
− Outstanding Debts
− Permitted Wasiyyah, where applicable
= Distributable Estate
Suppose the deceased leaves:
Estate item | Amount |
|---|---|
Gross estate | Rs 10,000,000 |
Funeral/burial expenses | − Rs 100,000 |
Outstanding debts | − Rs 900,000 |
Permitted Wasiyyah | − Rs 1,000,000 |
Distributable estate | Rs 8,000,000 |
The heirs' inheritance calculation would therefore begin from Rs 8 million, not Rs 10 million.
The Qur'anic inheritance passages themselves refer to inheritance distribution after bequest and debt.
1.3.Step 3: Understand Wasiyyah before entering it
A Wasiyyah or bequest is not simply another inheritance share.
HisaabKit caps the entered bequest at one-third of the estate remaining after funeral expenses and debts. It also requires the user to confirm that the bequest is to a non-heir or is otherwise permitted with the required heirs' consent. The calculator does not independently determine whether a particular Wasiyyah is legally or religiously valid.
For example, suppose:
Estate after funeral expenses and debts = Rs 9,000,000
One-third would be:
Rs 9,000,000 ÷ 3 = Rs 3,000,000
That gives a one-third ceiling of Rs 3 million within the calculator's model; it does not establish that every proposed Rs 3 million bequest is automatically valid.
Cases involving a Wasiyyah to an heir, disputed consent or other unusual circumstances should receive qualified review.
1.4.Step 4: Identify every surviving heir
This step is critical.
You should not calculate the daughter's share first and later discover that the deceased also left a wife, father or mother.
The complete relevant family structure should be identified before distribution.
The current HisaabKit calculator supports entries for husband, wives, biological sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters through sons, father, mother, paternal grandfather, full siblings, paternal siblings, maternal siblings and specified further agnate relatives such as nephews, paternal uncles and paternal cousins.
It also supports a limited one-unborn-child scenario, which must be recalculated once the relevant facts are known.
2.Fixed-share heirs and residuary heirs
Understanding these two concepts makes inheritance calculations much easier to follow.
2.1.Fixed shares
Certain heirs can receive prescribed fractions in applicable family structures.
For example, the Qur'anic provisions include specified shares for spouses, parents and daughters under particular conditions.
2.2.Residuary shares
After applicable fixed shares have been allocated, the remaining estate may pass to eligible residuary (Asabah) heirs according to the applicable priority.
This is why saying:
“A son receives twice a daughter's share.”
is incomplete on its own.
When a son and daughter inherit together as residuaries, their residuary portion can be distributed in a 2:1 ratio. But another heir—such as the deceased's wife—may first have a fixed share.
Let's see this in an actual example.
2.3.Example 1: Wife, one son and one daughter
This example can be reproduced in the HisaabKit calculator.
Suppose a man dies leaving:
Distributable estate: Rs 2,400,000
Wife: 1
Son: 1
Daughter: 1
No other entered heirs
Because there are descendants, the wife receives 1/8.
Wife = Rs 2,400,000 × 1/8
Wife = Rs 300,000
The remaining estate is:
Rs 2,400,000 − Rs 300,000 = Rs 2,100,000
The son and daughter inherit that supported residuary amount in the relevant 2:1 ratio.
Think of this as three units:
Son = 2 units
Daughter = 1 unit
Therefore:
Rs 2,100,000 ÷ 3 = Rs 700,000 per unit
Final result:
Heir | Percentage | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Wife | 12.50% | Rs 300,000 |
Son | 58.33% | Rs 1,400,000 |
Daughter | 29.17% | Rs 700,000 |
Total | 100% | Rs 2,400,000 |
This is also the verified worked example displayed on the live HisaabKit calculator.
Try the same family structure in the Islamic Inheritance Calculator Pakistan and then change one heir to see how the distribution changes.
3.Husband's inheritance share
Qur'an 4:12 provides the central spouse rule for a husband:
Where the wife leaves no child, the husband receives one-half in the stated situation.
Where she leaves a child, his share is one-fourth, subject to the wider estate-settlement rules.
Therefore, you should not simply memorize:
“Husband = 1/2.”
The presence of descendants changes the applicable share.
4.Wife's inheritance share
Qur'an 4:12 similarly provides:
Where the husband leaves no child, the wife/wives collectively receive one-fourth in the stated situation.
Where he leaves a child, the wife/wives collectively receive one-eighth.
If there are multiple wives in a supported calculation, HisaabKit calculates the combined wives' category and divides that amount equally among the entered wives.
That means four wives do not each independently receive 1/8 where the applicable collective share is 1/8.
They share the applicable wives' portion.
5.Son and daughter inheritance shares
One of the most commonly misunderstood inheritance rules is the relationship between sons and daughters.
Qur'an 4:11 provides the relevant two-to-one relationship for male and female children in the specified inheritance situation.
But it should not be translated into:
“Always divide the entire property among sons and daughters 2:1.”
Other heirs may have rights first.
As Example 1 demonstrated, the wife first received her applicable fixed share. Only the remaining portion was then distributed between the son and daughter under the supported residuary rule.
6.What if there are daughters but no son?
The calculation changes again.
Qur'an 4:11 provides that, in the stated circumstances, a single daughter has a prescribed one-half share, while two or more daughters have a collective two-thirds share.
But even here, the complete estate cannot necessarily be settled by multiplying one fraction and stopping.
Other surviving heirs and the rules concerning the remaining balance may affect the final distribution.
This is precisely why HisaabKit asks for the complete supported family structure.
7.Mother's and father's shares
Parents can also be Quranic heirs.
Qur'an 4:11 provides that where the deceased leaves children, each parent has a one-sixth share in the specified situation. It also addresses the mother's share where the parents inherit without children and how siblings can affect the mother's fraction.
Again, these fractions cannot safely be used in isolation.
Whether there are descendants, siblings, a spouse and other relevant heirs can affect the overall calculation.
8.Why can a brother or sister receive nothing?
Being related to the deceased does not automatically mean receiving an inheritance share.
Islamic inheritance includes blocking (Hajb) rules.
A closer eligible heir may prevent a more distant relative from inheriting under the relevant calculation path.
For example, you should not assume that a brother, nephew, uncle or cousin must receive something merely because that relative exists.
HisaabKit identifies entered categories that are blocked under its supported calculation model rather than quietly distributing an amount to every relative entered.
This is another reason that an inheritance calculation requires the complete family tree.
9.What does Awl mean?
Sometimes the applicable fixed shares, when combined, exceed the available estate fraction.
In HisaabKit's configured model, Awl means that the supported fixed shares exceed the estate fraction and are proportionally reduced so that the total distribution reconciles with the available estate.
Awl demonstrates why manually adding a few remembered fractions can produce a result exceeding 100%.
The calculation must ultimately reconcile with the estate actually available for distribution.
10.What does Radd mean?
The opposite kind of situation can also arise: fixed shares have been assigned but a balance remains and no supported residuary heir is identified.
Under HisaabKit's configured model, Radd means an available balance is returned to supported non-spouse fixed-share categories when no supported residuary is identified.
Awl and Radd are therefore not extra heirs.
They are mechanisms relevant to reconciling the estate in applicable inheritance structures.
11.Example 2: Funeral expenses and debts reduce the estate first
Suppose a deceased person leaves:
Gross estate: Rs 1,000,000
Funeral expenses: Rs 100,000
Outstanding debts: Rs 200,000
Wasiyyah: Rs 0
Surviving supported heir: one son
First calculate the distributable estate:
Rs 1,000,000 − Rs 100,000 − Rs 200,000
11.1.Distributable estate = Rs 700,000
Under this simple supported example, the son receives:
11.2.Rs 700,000
This is another example already provided by the live HisaabKit calculator.
The lesson is important:
Do not calculate inheritance percentages from Rs 1 million when only Rs 700,000 remains for distribution.
12.Example 3: Why ownership verification comes before Faraid
Suppose a family home is worth:
Rs 30,000,000
But documents establish that the deceased owned only:
40%
The deceased's relevant property interest would therefore be:
Rs 30,000,000 × 40% = Rs 12,000,000
Suppose the deceased also owned:
Bank balance: Rs 2,000,000
The preliminary gross estate would therefore be:
Rs 12,000,000 + Rs 2,000,000 = Rs 14,000,000
—not Rs 32 million.
Only after determining this ownership should funeral expenses, enforceable debts, an applicable Wasiyyah and inheritance shares be considered.
This example is intentionally about estate preparation, not about assigning final heir shares. If the 40% ownership itself is disputed, the dispute should be resolved rather than guessed by a calculator.
13.Grandchildren need particular care
The HisaabKit calculator supports:
grandsons through a son, and
granddaughters through a son
within its supported calculation model.
That does not mean every person commonly described as a “grandchild” should simply be entered in those fields.
In particular, Pakistan has an important statutory provision concerning children of a son or daughter who died before succession opened.
14.What if the deceased's son or daughter had already died?
This is an especially important Pakistan-specific issue.
Section 4 of Pakistan's Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 provides that where a son or daughter of the propositus died before succession opened, the children of that son or daughter who are alive when succession opens receive per stirpes a share equivalent to what their parent would have received if alive.
However, the current HisaabKit calculator explicitly lists a predeceased child's descendants among cases requiring specialist review.
Therefore:
Do not enter children of a predeceased son or daughter into an ordinary grandchild field and assume HisaabKit has applied section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance.
Such an estate should receive appropriate legal and scholarly review.
That is an important distinction between a general Faraid calculator and actual inheritance administration in Pakistan.
15.Are grandmothers supported?
Not in the current HisaabKit version.
The calculator specifically states that grandmother shares are not calculated.
Therefore, if a paternal or maternal grandmother is a potentially relevant heir, do not omit her merely to make the calculator produce a result.
The correct action is to have the case reviewed appropriately.
16.What about an unborn child?
An unborn child can materially affect an inheritance calculation.
HisaabKit therefore provides a limited scenario for one unborn child, allowing the user to model the selected scenario temporarily. But the result is only an estimate and must be recalculated once the relevant facts are confirmed.
Actual estate distribution should not rely on an uncertain pregnancy assumption as though it were a confirmed family structure.
17.Adopted children, stepchildren and non-biological relatives
The calculator does not automatically treat adopted children, stepchildren or other non-biological relatives as biological inheritance heirs.
It separately notes that non-Muslim relatives may instead require consideration in relation to a bequest rather than being automatically entered as ordinary inheritance heirs.
These situations can involve legal and religious questions beyond a general calculator and should be reviewed accordingly.
18.Women's inheritance rights in Pakistan
Islamic inheritance gives women prescribed inheritance rights; these rights should not be displaced by family pressure or local custom.
In a judgment dated 19 March 2025, the Federal Shariat Court addressed the practice known as “Chaddar” or “Parchi,” under which women were deprived of inheritance or pressured into accepting less valuable property. The Court held customs or usages depriving women of their inheritance rights to be contrary to Islamic injunctions and illegal, and its public release referred to enforcement under section 498-A of the Pakistan Penal Code.
This means an inheritance calculation should not begin with assumptions such as:
“The daughter is married, so she does not need a share.”
or
“The sister already received dowry.”
Those are not substitutes for determining the applicable inheritance rights.
19.Can heirs simply agree to different shares?
The first task should be to establish the applicable inheritance entitlement correctly.
What heirs may subsequently choose to do with property they validly own is a separate issue from calculating what the estate initially allocates to them.
Family pressure, coercion or customary practices should not be presented as though they change the underlying inheritance calculation—particularly where women are being deprived of their recognized shares. The Federal Shariat Court's 2025 judgment strongly reinforces that distinction.
20.Why might calculator amounts differ by one paisa?
Inheritance calculations frequently involve fractions that do not divide perfectly into two decimal places.
HisaabKit reconciles category amounts to the distributable estate to the paisa. Where an equal per-person division cannot reproduce a category total exactly at two decimal places, the per-person figure may be labelled approximate.
A one-paisa rounding reconciliation should therefore not be mistaken for an inheritance-rule change.
21.When should you NOT rely on the calculator alone?
The calculator is intended for supported family structures, not every possible inheritance dispute.
Specialist review is particularly important where there is a:
- paternal or maternal grandmother;
- predeceased child's descendants;
- missing heir;
- disputed marriage or lineage;
- disputed ownership;
- uncertain jointly owned asset;
- adopted or stepchild issue;
- unresolved unborn-child situation;
- non-Muslim relative;
- disputed heir eligibility;
- contested Wasiyyah;
- jurisprudential difference relevant to the case; or
- court or succession dispute.
The live calculator itself warns that these situations may require qualified scholarly and legal guidance.
22.How to use the HisaabKit Islamic Inheritance Calculator
Once the estate and family structure have been verified, the calculation process is straightforward.
First enter the gross estate value. Then enter applicable funeral/burial expenses and outstanding debts. Add a permitted Wasiyyah only where relevant and confirm its condition.
Next enter every relevant supported surviving heir accurately.
If an unborn-child scenario applies, select the appropriate temporary scenario.
Then calculate the inheritance distribution.
The result can show the distributable estate, estimated shares, percentages and PKR amounts while applying the calculator's supported fixed-share, residuary, blocking, Awl and Radd logic.
Calculate Islamic inheritance shares with HisaabKit
Remember that the result is an educational estimate. It is not a fatwa, succession certificate, letter of administration, mutation order or court decision.
23.Inheritance and Zakat are separate calculations
Receiving an inheritance does not mean that 2.5% should simply be deducted from the inherited amount immediately as part of the inheritance calculation.
Inheritance distribution and Zakat are separate subjects.
After a beneficiary receives and owns their inheritance, that wealth may later form part of their own Zakatable wealth depending on Nisab, Hawl, other assets and the applicable guidance.
For that separate calculation, read How to Calculate Zakat in Pakistan 2026: Gold, Cash, Silver & Savings and use the Zakat Calculator Pakistan.
This creates a clear distinction:
Inheritance determines who owns what.
Zakat considers the recipient's subsequent qualifying Zakatable wealth.
24.Primary sources and further verification
For the foundational inheritance shares, the article should link readers to the relevant passages of Surah An-Nisa 4:11–12 and 4:176. The inheritance provisions in 4:11–12 expressly address children, parents, spouses and specified sibling circumstances, together with references to bequests and debts.
For the Pakistan-specific position concerning descendants of a predeceased son or daughter, section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 is the relevant statutory source.
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 — Pakistan Code
For the recent judicial treatment of customs depriving women of inheritance, the Federal Shariat Court's 19 March 2025 judgment in Shariat Petition No. 10/I of 2023 provides important Pakistan-specific context.
