Islamic Fiqh > Inheritance and wasiya > Shares of children and descendants
Sons, daughters, daughters alone (kalala), grandchildren: the Quranic shares of descendants, the rule of the son's double share, and the views on substitute heirs.
Contents
Updated on 06 October 2026 at 10:50 PM
The son alone takes the whole estate, likewise several sons together. The daughter alone: the half; 2 daughters or more: the 2 thirds (Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Qudama: agreement of the scholars; sura an-Nisa 11). Sons and daughters together: to the male the share of 2 females: "Allah counsels you concerning your children: for the male, a share equivalent to that of 2 females" (sura an-Nisa 11); the estate then divides into equal shares where the son counts double.
The son of the son holds the place of the son in his absence, for inheritance, exclusion and agnation. The daughter of the son alone: the half; 2 daughters of the son or more: the 2 thirds. If a daughter of the deceased exists with daughters of the son: the daughter of the deceased takes the half, and the residue goes to the sons of the son and their sisters, to the male the share of 2 females.
The kalala designates the one who dies without son nor father; the scholars discuss whether the word names the deceased or the heirs. The Quran fixes the share of the brothers and sisters in this case:
"If a man or a woman dies leaving neither child nor direct parent and a brother or a sister survives him, each of the 2 gets the sixth; if they are more numerous, they share the third."
sura an-Nisa 12
Man and woman are equal there, for they are called together to this right with no way of agnation.
The shares of the children come before the rest of the kinship: the descendants' line absorbs the estate, and the calculation starts by counting daughters alone, sons alone, or both together.
Because classical fiqh charges him with maintaining his own family and often others; the daughter's share stays her own property without maintenance burden.
Two thirds; one daughter alone: half; with a brother: the 2-to-one ratio applies to all.
The textual table ignores them: substitution admitted by several schools and codified in several countries (see the children and kalala page).