Learn articles
Short, clear articles that explain how Islamic inheritance works — what it is, how ʿawl and radd balance an estate, and why the schools differ on the grandfather.
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The Learn section at qurangallery.com/mirath/learn holds a handful of short articles that explain the ideas behind the calculator in plain words. Each shows an estimated reading time. Here is what each one covers.
What is Islamic inheritance?
A short orientation — about 3 minutes.
An introduction to ʿilm al-farāʾiḍ, the science of the fixed shares, and the order in which an estate is settled. It explains the four claims that are met before any heir inherits — burial, debts, and a bequest of up to one third — and introduces the two kinds of heir: the fixed-share heirs (aṣḥāb al-furūḍ), who take a named fraction, and the residuary heirs (al-ʿaṣaba), who take whatever remains. It closes with the idea of blocking (ḥajb) and the two balancing mechanisms, ʿawl and radd.
When the shares don’t add up: ʿawl and radd
About 4 minutes.
In most families the fixed shares fit the estate perfectly. This article walks through the two cases where they don’t, using worked examples:
- ʿAwl — when the shares overshoot the whole. A husband (½) with two full sisters (⅔) demands more than one estate, so the base is raised from six to seven and everyone is reduced in the same proportion.
- Radd — when the shares fall short with no residuary heir to absorb the rest. A mother and a daughter end up with a quarter and three quarters, the surplus returned to them — though a surviving spouse never shares in that return.
The grandfather and the siblings: why the schools differ
About 4 minutes.
For almost every family the four Sunni schools agree. This article explains the one situation where they part company: when a paternal grandfather inherits alongside the deceased’s brothers and sisters. The Ḥanafī school treats the grandfather as standing in for the father, so he excludes the siblings; the Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī schools let him share with them (muqāsama). It also introduces al-Akdariyya — a husband, a mother, a grandfather, and a single full sister — long taught as the trickiest single problem in farāʾiḍ.
Going deeper
Once an article has explained an idea, the best way to make it stick is to see it computed:
- The rules — the full reference in plain language.
- Test cases — every idea above, worked through with exact fractions.
- The calculator — build a family and watch the shares appear.