The Qur'an (Quran.com)
القرآن الكريم
Arabic + EnglishFree online
Arabic text with English translations. Start with Surah An-Nisa 4:11–12 and 4:176, plus 4:7–8. The Arabic is the authority; translations vary.
Further Reading
Sources for readers who want to study the fara'id directly. Everything listed here comes from the four Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) or the primary texts they rest on. Listing a book is not an endorsement of every position in it. For an actual estate, consult a qualified scholar or estate specialist.
Some older English translations date from the colonial era and use dated terminology. Links last checked September 2026.
Primary sources
Hadith collections (Sunnah.com)
كتاب الفرائض
al-Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah
Arabic + EnglishFree online
Searchable collections. Sahih al-Bukhari Book 85 is the Laws of Inheritance; Sunan Abi Dawud Book 19 and Sunan Ibn Majah Book 23 also have inheritance books.
Classical works by school
Al-Muwatta, Book 27: Fixed Shares of Inheritance
الموطأ
Imam Malik ibn Anas, translated by Aisha Bewley
MalikiEnglishFree online
The foundational Maliki text; Book 27 sets out the fixed shares of inheritance.
Kitab al-Fara'id al-Sirajiyyah
كتاب الفرائض السراجية
Siraj al-Din al-Sajawandi
HanafiEnglishFree online
The standard Hanafi manual on inheritance. Sir William Jones's 1792 English translation is available as an open-access copy (dated terminology). A print edition by Mahomed Ullah pairs the Arabic text with an English translation and commentary.
Minhaj et Talibin
منهاج الطالبين
Imam al-Nawawi; English by E.C. Howard from L.W.C. van den Berg's French edition, 1914
Shafi'iEnglishPrint or library
A general Shafi'i manual of law; see its chapter on inheritance. The English version was made from a French edition and is dated.
Available in print or through libraries
Reliance of the Traveller
عمدة السالك وعدة الناسك
Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller
Shafi'iArabic + EnglishPrint or library
A Shafi'i manual with Arabic and English side by side. Book L covers inheritance.
Al-Mughni
المغني
Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi
HanbaliArabicFree online
The major Hanbali reference, which also compares the other schools; it has a chapter on inheritance (Kitab al-Fara'id). The open-access scan is Arabic only; we know of no complete English translation.
Maliki Law: a summary of Khalil's Mukhtasar
مختصر خليل
F.H. Ruxton (1916; reprinted 1980)
MalikiEnglishPrint or library
An English summary of Sidi Khalil's Maliki manual, which includes a chapter on inheritance. Compiled from French translations rather than the Arabic, so treat it as a secondary guide.
Available in print or through libraries
Comparative and modern works
The Distinguished Jurist's Primer (Bidayat al-Mujtahid)
بداية المجتهد ونهاية المقتصد
Ibn Rushd, translated by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee
ComparativeEnglishPrint or library
Sets out the jurists' differing opinions and their reasoning across many areas of law, including bequests and inheritance.
Tashil al-Fara'id and Talkhis Fiqh al-Fara'id
تسهيل الفرائض ؛ تلخيص فقه الفرائض
Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen
HanbaliArabicPrint or library
Two short Arabic works on inheritance: a 136-page introductory manual and a 56-page summary. Bookseller stock varies.
Al-Fara'id wa al-Mawarith wa al-Wasaya
الفرائض والمواريث والوصايا
Muhammad al-Zuhayli (Dar al-Qalam)
ArabicPrint or library
A modern Arabic work on inheritance, succession and wills (767 pages).
Available in print or through libraries