He died and left behind a wife, four sons and four daughters
The division in this case is one of the issues of al-faraa’id (division of inheritance) which is governed by two verses in the Book of Allaah:
1 – The verse in which Allaah states the inheritance of the wife (interpretation of the meaning):
“but if you leave a child, they get an eighth of that which you leave”
[al-Nisa’ 4:12]
This verse allocates to the wife one-eighth of the estate if there is a son of the husband.
2 – The verse in which Allaah states the inheritance of the children if there are both males and females (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allaah commands you as regards your children’s (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females”
[al-Nisa’ 4:11].
Based on this, the estate is to be divided as follows:
1 – The wife gets one-eight of the estate.
2 – The rest is given to the sons and daughters, with the male getting a share equal to that of two females.
Dividing an estate of 120,000 dirhams is done in the following manner:
| Inheritor | Basic division of shares | Units for working out amount of shares | Division of the estate |
| 8 | 96 | 120,000 | |
| wife | 1 | 12 | 15,000 |
| 4 sons | 7 | 56 | 70,000 |
| 4 daughters | (included with sons’ shares) | 28 | 35,000 |
The value of one unit is: 120,000 divided by 96 = 1250 dirhams.
The wife’s share of the estate is 12 x 1250 = 15,000 dirhams.
The share of all the sons is 56 x 1250 = 70,000 dirhams.
The share of one son is 70,000 divided by 4 = 17,500 dirhams.
The share of all the daughters is 28 x 1250 = 35,000 dirhams.
The share of one daughter is 35,000 divided by 4 = 8750 dirhams.
And Allaah knows best.
Wister