Fara'id
Fara'id is the fiqh discipline that fixes exactly who inherits, who does not, and the precise share due to each heir.
What it means for me: You are not expected to calculate your own family's shares. Fara'id assigns fixed fractions to specific relatives once the deceased's debts, funeral costs, and any bequest are settled first. A scholar or a trained calculator applies these fractions to your family's actual facts.
Example: A woman dies leaving a husband, a son, and a daughter, with no debts or bequest outstanding. Fara'id fixes the husband's share first, then divides the remainder between the children by the ratio the sources set.
Do not confuse with: Wasiyyah, a bequest. Fara'id shares are fixed by the sources and cannot be changed by personal wish. A wasiyyah lets someone direct up to a third of the estate outside those fixed shares.
If scholars differ: One of fiqh's oldest recorded disputes concerns a grandfather inheriting alongside full or paternal brothers when there is no surviving father. Companions and later schools differed, and each position carries its own detailed method of calculation.
See the term in context
What is an easy book suitable for beginners in the science of inheritance (fara'id)?
The best way for a student of inheritance laws (fara'id) to begin is with the book: "Al-Tahqiqat al-Mardiyah fi al-Mabahith al-Fardiyah" by Dr. Al-Fawzan, and to memorize the text of "Nazm al-Rahbiyah" while reading it…
Are the obligatory duties (fara'id) numerous and beyond enumeration in Islam? And what are the duties and obligations (fara'id) incumbent upon the Muslim woman and girl? And is it possible to enumerate them and perform them all?
Allah Almighty has not imposed upon us any obligations or duties except what is within our capacity. Allah Almighty says: "Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity," and "Allah intends for you ease and does not…
What is the science of al-fara'id?
The science of Fara'id, or inheritance, is a discipline that determines who inherits and who does not, and the precise share of each heir. Its subject matter is estates, and its purpose is to ensure that every rightful…
Questions that use it
How does a Muslim sister seek knowledge if she lives in a town where people are not interested in studying fundamental Islamic sciences, and what are the recommended books in the science of inheritance (Al-Fara'id/Mawarith) and books on the causes of revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul)?
How sound is the Hadith: "Learn the Fara'id (obligatory shares of inheritance), for they are part of your religion and half of knowledge, and they are the first knowledge to be removed from my Ummah," and who narrated it?
What is the response to one who denies the hadith: "Attach the fara'id (allotted shares) to their rightful recipients..." claiming it contradicts the Quran, and holds that His saying, may He be exalted: "And if there are women, more than two, then for them is two-thirds of what he left" includes the male, and that the matter of 'asabah (agnatic heirs) contradicts the Quran, basing this on the comprehensiveness of the word "walad" (child/offspring) for both male and female in His saying, may He be exalted: "And for his parents, each one of them a sixth of what he left, if he has walad (children)"?