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How can a will be written to distribute the inheritance according to Islamic Sharia, in order to avoid its distribution according to American law, which divides it equally between the spouse and children and allocates a portion to the government?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the state will divide the inheritance according to the law, then write a will that your estate be divided according to Islamic Sharia. If you know that the state will not act upon it, then bequeath one-fourth to your husband, and the remainder after the one-fourth to your living sons and daughters at the time of your death, with the male receiving the share of two females (if you have no father or mother). If you have a father or a mother or both, then bequeath one-sixth to whoever of them is alive at the time of your death. This is a bequest to an heir in the amount of his share, and some jurists have permitted it out of necessity.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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