Faraid — the Fixed-Share System
Faraid (from the Quranic term fara'id, "obligatory shares") is the overall system of fixed inheritance shares laid out primarily in Surah An-Nisa (4:11–12, 4:176). Unlike a general common-law system where a will determines the entire distribution, Faraid pre-assigns fixed fractional shares to a defined set of relatives — spouse, children, parents, and others depending on who survives — before any question of a will even arises. It's the framework everything else in this glossary sits inside.
Wasiyyah — the Will, Capped at One-Third
A wasiyyah is the testamentary document itself — but critically, it only controls up to one-third of the net estate, and only for bequests to non-heirs. The cap traces to the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (Sahih al-Bukhari 2742): "One-third, and one-third is much." The remaining two-thirds are already allocated by Faraid to classified heirs and cannot be redirected by the will. A bequest to someone who is already a classified heir is void by default under the hadith "there shall be no bequest for an heir" (Abu Dawud 2870) — unless every other heir unanimously consents after the testator's death.
'Awl — Proportional Reduction
'Awl applies when the fixed Quranic shares of the surviving heirs add up to more than the whole estate — a real arithmetic possibility given how many shares are conditional on who else survives. The classical resolution, first applied during Umar ibn al-Khattab's (RA) caliphate, is to reduce every share by the same proportion so the total comes back to exactly one. Not every school accepts this: the Ja'fari school treats a fixed Quranic share as never reducible, and resolves the same shortfall differently (see Radd).
Radd — Return of the Surplus
Radd is the mirror case to 'awl: the fixed shares don't exhaust the estate, and there's no residuary ('asabah) heir left to absorb the remainder. Most schools return that surplus proportionally to the existing fixed-share heirs rather than letting it go unclaimed. Where the classical Shafi'i and Maliki position historically escheated the surplus to a public treasury, the prevailing modern position — and the one applicable in India, where no such treasury exists for this purpose — is to apply radd instead.
Hajb — Blocking and Exclusion
Hajb is the exclusion of certain heirs due to the presence of a closer relative. It comes in two forms: hajb bil-hirman, total exclusion (a paternal grandfather is blocked entirely by a living father in the Sunni schools), and hajb bil-nuqsan, partial reduction rather than full exclusion. The Ja'fari school applies a related but distinct mechanism — a three-tier class system (see Tabaqat) where an entire class of relatives is excluded by any surviving member of a higher class.
'Asabah — the Residuary Heirs
After the fixed-share heirs (ashab al-furud) take their Quranic portions, whatever remains of the estate passes to the 'asabah — residuary heirs, typically male agnatic relatives such as sons, then the deceased's father, then brothers, in a defined order of priority. The 'asabah system is why a son and a daughter in the same family can end up with very different totals: the daughter has a fixed fractional share, while the son often inherits partly as a fixed heir and partly as residuary.
Tabaqat — the Ja'fari Class System
Tabaqat means "tiers" or "classes." Rather than the Sunni schools' case-by-case blocking rules, the Ja'fari school groups all potential heirs into three ranked classes — broadly, (I) children and parents, (II) grandparents and siblings, (III) more distant relatives — where any living member of a higher class excludes the entire lower class outright, not just reduces its share. A single surviving daughter, for instance, excludes the deceased's siblings completely under this system, where a Sunni calculation would have them share the estate as residuary heirs.
Kalalah — No Ascendants or Descendants
Kalalah describes the specific case where the deceased leaves neither parents nor children. Surah An-Nisa (4:176) addresses this scenario directly, establishing distinct rules for how siblings inherit when the estate isn't already claimed by the more immediate family members who would otherwise take priority.
Hiba — Lifetime Gifts, Outside the Cap
A hiba is a gift made during the giver's lifetime, completed by an immediate, unconditional transfer of possession. Because it takes effect before death rather than through the estate, a hiba is not subject to the one-third wasiyyah cap and can be made to anyone — heir or non-heir alike. This is a genuinely separate mechanism from a bequest, not a workaround for the cap: a bequest promises a future transfer at death; a hiba is a completed transfer now.
Waqf — Charitable Endowment
A waqf is a permanent charitable endowment — an asset dedicated irrevocably to a religious, educational, or charitable purpose, with the asset itself preserved and only its usufruct (benefit) applied to that purpose in perpetuity. A waqf can be established during one's lifetime or via a wasiyyah's one-third discretionary share, making it one of the main channels for structured, lasting charitable giving within an Islamic estate plan.