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.