⚖️ Faraiz — Who Inherits What

Before anyone asks “what will the trust do to my share?”, this page shows what the law already gives every member automatically. These are the default shares under Islamic inheritance law (faraiz) — the starting point for every honest conversation about the family’s future. May Allah grant Dada and Dadi long, healthy lives — careful families read this early, calmly, and together.

The rules in one minute

• When there are children, a wife receives 1/8 of her husband’s estate, and a husband receives 1/4 of his wife’s estate.
• After the spouse’s share, sons and daughters divide the rest together, each son counting twice a daughter — the 2:1 rule.
• The shares apply at death, to whatever the person owns at that moment — land, money, business, everything.
• No will or paperwork is needed for these shares. They are automatic — this is the standing law (Hanafi rules, as applied in Bangladesh under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance).

Scenario A — Dada’s estate

Survivors in this scenario: his wife Dadi, five sons (Mehedi, Mohammad Ali, Moula, Mustafa, Joy) and one daughter (Labiba). On the common base of 88 shares:

Heir	Fraction	Percent
Dadi (wife)	1/8 (11 of 88)	12.50%
Each son — Mehedi, Mohammad Ali, Moula, Mustafa, Joy	7/44 each (14 of 88)	≈ 15.91% each
All five sons together	70 of 88	≈ 79.55%
Labiba (daughter)	7/88	≈ 7.95%
Total	88 of 88	100%

Scenario B — Dadi’s estate

Survivors in this scenario: her husband Dada, the same five sons and one daughter. On the common base of 44 shares:

Heir	Fraction	Percent
Dada (husband)	1/4 (11 of 44)	25.00%
Each son — Mehedi, Mohammad Ali, Moula, Mustafa, Joy	3/22 each (6 of 44)	≈ 13.64% each
All five sons together	30 of 44	≈ 68.18%
Labiba (daughter)	3/44	≈ 6.82%
Total	44 of 44	100%

What this means in practice

• Land divides into many small pieces. At each death, every asset — every plot of land — is split among seven or more heirs at once. In the next generation the same division happens again inside each branch: pieces multiply, and each piece shrinks. This is fragmentation, and it is automatic.
• A will can only redirect so much. A will (ওসিয়ত) can direct at most 1/3 of an estate, and giving any heir more than their faraiz share needs the other heirs’ consent. See Wills for Dada & Dadi.
• The trust does not cancel faraiz. It is a voluntary agreement among living family members: whatever each member contributes is recorded in their name and stays theirs. See the Contribution Ledger and the Questions & Straight Answers.

Faraiz vs the family trust

Both columns below are honest. Faraiz is not “bad” — it is fair, automatic, and needs nobody’s signature. It simply divides; the trust is designed to keep things whole.

	Default — faraiz alone	With the family trust
What happens to land	Divided among the heirs at every death; each heir owns their piece outright and can keep or sell it freely.	Held together in one structure; each branch’s faraiz-computed share of legacy assets is recorded openly — including Labiba’s full share, written in from day one.
Who manages	Each heir manages their own share — simple, no meetings needed; but any joint decision needs every co-owner to agree.	A trustee guided by the family council — one seat per branch, six seats — with audited annual accounts delivered to every branch head.
What a widow receives	1/8 of the estate (12.50%), taken as small pieces of each asset.	A beneficiary of the whole trust through her branch, for life; Dadi is also the named successor Protector.
Over 3 generations	The division repeats at every death. With 9 grandchildren already, the pieces multiply and shrink each round.	Every descendant of Dada & Dadi is added as a beneficiary at birth; the base stays whole and compounds as one enterprise.

One gentle note to close: this page is education, not a ruling. The final shares will be computed on the real asset register and confirmed by a lawyer and an Islamic scholar the family trusts, before anything is signed.