Six common family situations, divided step by step after funeral costs, debts and any bequest. Shares follow the agreed Sunni rules; see the source index and glossary. General information, not legal or religious advice.
Worked examples at a glance
If the surviving family is wife, one son and one daughter, the wife receives 1/8 (12.5%), the son receives 7/12 (58.33%), the daughter receives 7/24 (29.17%) of the distributable estate.
Hanafi examples. Only the listed relatives survive; no other heirs are assumed. Shares are of the estate available after funeral costs, debts and any valid bequest. Fractions are exact; percentages are rounded to at most two decimal places. Radd and some grandmother rules differ by school; see the source index.
Worked examples at a glance — Hanafi
Who survives
Each heir's share (fraction and percent)
Why
Source link
Wife, one son and one daughter
Wife1/8 (12.5%)
Son7/12 (58.33%)
Daughter7/24 (29.17%)
Wife's share; Sons and daughters together; Residuary heirs ('asabah)
Last reviewed: . Calculated by the Raashid engine. Not legal advice.
1. A father dies leaving his wife, two daughters and a brother
Husband dies. Survivors: wife, two daughters, one full brother. No sons, no living parents.
Wife
1/8 (3/24)
Each daughter
1/3 (8/24)
Full brother
5/24 (residue)
The wife takes 1/8 because her husband left children.
Two or more daughters with no son share a fixed 2/3 equally.
With no son or father, the full brother is the nearest male residuary heir and takes what remains: 1 − 1/8 − 2/3 = 5/24.
If there were no brother (or other male residuary), the surplus would return to the daughters by radd rather than go to distant relatives.
Sources: Quran 4:12 sets the wife's eighth when there is a child; Quran 4:11 gives two or more daughters two thirds: “If you leave only two ˹or more˺ females, their share is two-thirds of the estate.” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com. The brother's residue follows the hadith “Give the Fara'id (the shares of the inheritance that are prescribed in the Qur'an) to those who are entitled to receive it. Then whatever remains, should be given to the closest male relative of the deceased .” - Sahih al-Bukhari 6732 (wording quoted); Sahih Muslim 1615, sunnah.com English translation.
2. A mother dies leaving her husband, a son and a daughter
Wife dies. Survivors: husband, one son, one daughter. No living parents.
Husband
1/4
Son
1/2
Daughter
1/4
The husband takes 1/4 because his wife left children.
The remaining 3/4 goes to the children as residuaries, a son taking twice a daughter's portion.
3/4 split into three parts: the son takes two (1/2 of the estate), the daughter one (1/4).
Sources: Quran 4:12: “But if they have children, then ˹your share is˺ one-fourth of the estate” - Qur'an 4:12, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com Quran 4:11: “the share of the male will be twice that of the female.” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com When a son is present, daughters inherit as residuaries through him ('asabah bi'l-ghayr), as set out in al-Sirajiyyah and Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni.
3. A person dies leaving only a daughter and their mother (radd)
Deceased leaves only a daughter and his mother. No spouse, no sons, no father, no siblings.
Daughter
3/4 (1/2 + radd)
Mother
1/4 (1/6 + radd)
A single daughter takes a fixed 1/2; the mother takes 1/6 because there is a child.
Together they hold only 4/6, and no residuary heir exists.
By radd the 2/6 surplus returns to them in proportion to their shares (3 : 1), giving 3/4 and 1/4.
The Hanafi and Hanbali schools apply radd here; classical Maliki and Shafi'i rulings send the surplus to the public treasury, though later jurists in those schools may apply radd when no functioning treasury exists.
Sources: Quran 4:11: “But if there is only one female, her share will be one-half.” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com and “Each parent is entitled to one-sixth if you leave offspring.” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com Radd to fixed-share heirs other than spouses is the position of the Hanafis and Hanbalis and the later Malikis and Shafi'is, reported from 'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud (al-Mughni; al-Sirajiyyah).
4. A husband dies with no children, leaving his wife and both parents
Survivors: wife, mother, father. No children, no siblings. (One of the two 'Umariyyatan cases.)
Wife
1/4
Mother
1/4 (1/3 of the remainder)
Father
1/2 (residue)
With no children, the wife takes 1/4.
The mother would normally take 1/3, but here she takes 1/3 of what is left after the spouse: 1/3 × 3/4 = 1/4.
The father takes the rest as residuary: 1/2, so he keeps double the mother's share as in the verse.
Sources: Quran 4:11: “But if you are childless and your parents are the only heirs, then your mother will receive one-third.” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com The 'Umariyyatan ruling — one third of the remainder — was given by the caliph 'Umar, followed by the majority of companions and all four schools (Malik, al-Muwatta; Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni). Ibn 'Abbas held she takes one third of the whole.
5. A wife dies leaving her husband and two full sisters ('awl)
Survivors: husband and two full sisters. No children, no parents, no brothers.
Husband
3/7 (was 1/2)
Each full sister
2/7 (was 1/3)
The husband is due 1/2 (no children); two full sisters are due 2/3.
1/2 + 2/3 = 7/6 — more than the whole estate.
By 'awl the base is raised from 6 to 7: the husband takes 3/7 and the sisters 4/7, 2/7 each.
Sources: Quran 4:12 (husband's half) and Quran 4:176: “If this person leaves behind two sisters, they together will inherit two-thirds of the estate.” - Qur'an 4:176, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com. This is the very case in which 'Umar ibn al-Khattab first applied 'awl on the advice of al-'Abbas, and it was accepted by the companions (al-Mughni; Sunan al-Bayhaqi).
6. A man dies leaving his wife, a son and both parents
Survivors: wife, one son, mother, father.
Wife
1/8 (3/24)
Mother
1/6 (4/24)
Father
1/6 (4/24)
Son
13/24 (residue)
The wife takes 1/8 because there is a child.
With a son present, each parent takes a fixed 1/6 and the father does not act as residuary.
The son takes everything left: 1 − 3/24 − 4/24 − 4/24 = 13/24.
Brothers, sisters, grandparents and uncles are all blocked by the son and father.
Sources: Quran 4:11: “Each parent is entitled to one-sixth if you leave offspring.” - Qur'an 4:11, The Clear Quran (Dr. Mustafa Khattab), as on quran.com and 4:12 for the wife's eighth. The son's residue and the blocking (hajb) of siblings follow Sahih al-Bukhari 6732 and the order of heirs set out in al-Sirajiyyah.