Daughter’s Share in Inheritance in Islam (Beti ka Hissa)

In many families the daughter’s share is the one most often delayed, reduced or quietly “gifted” back to her brothers. The Qur’an names it directly, in the same verse that names the son’s share, and no custom can cancel it. This guide sets out what a daughter receives in each situation, with worked examples in rupees, and what Pakistani law does when she is denied it. To work out your own family’s shares, including land in kanal and marla, use the wirasat calculator.

The three cases

“Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, the like of the portion of two females. But if there are only daughters, two or more, for them is two thirds of what he left; and if there is only one, for her is half.” (Surah al-Nisa 4:11)

1. With a son: the children share what is left after the fixed shares (wife or husband, parents), and each son gets twice what each daughter gets. The daughter has no fixed fraction here; she is a residuary heir together with her brothers.
2. One daughter, no son: half of the estate.
3. Two or more daughters, no son: two thirds of the estate, shared equally among them.

Worked example 1: a son and a daughter together

Aslam dies leaving Rs 60,00,000, a wife, two sons and one daughter. The wife takes 1/8 because there are children: Rs 7,50,000. The remaining Rs 52,50,000 is divided in five parts (two for each son, one for the daughter): each son gets Rs 21,00,000 and the daughter Rs 10,50,000. Every madhab gives this same answer.

Worked example 2: only daughters

Had Aslam left a wife, two daughters and a brother, the wife would still take 1/8 (Rs 7,50,000) and the daughters 2/3 between them (Rs 20,00,000 each). In all four Sunni schools and the Ahl-e-Hadith view the brother, as the nearest male relative, takes the rest: Rs 12,50,000. In Shia Ja’fari fiqh a brother does not inherit at all while there is a child, so the daughters take everything after the wife: Rs 26,25,000 each.

Who takes what is left after the daughters

When there are only daughters, part of the estate is left over after their 2/3 or 1/2. In the Sunni schools it goes, in order, to the father, then the paternal grandfather, then brothers, nephews, uncles and cousins on the father’s side, following the hadith “give the shares to those entitled to them, and what remains goes to the nearest male relative” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6732). If none of these is alive, the Hanafi and Hanbali schools, and later Shafi’i and Maliki scholars, return the remainder to the daughters and other sharers (radd), never to the husband or wife while another heir exists. The early Shafi’i and Maliki position gave it to the public treasury (bayt al-mal); the calculator notes this. With sisters and daughters together, the sisters take the remainder.

In Ja’fari fiqh daughters and parents are in the first class of heirs, so brothers, uncles and their children inherit nothing while a daughter is alive; whatever is left after the fixed shares returns to the daughters and parents.

Granddaughters

A son’s daughter takes a daughter’s place when there is no son or daughter. With one daughter she receives 1/6, completing the 2/3. Two daughters exclude her, unless she has a brother or a male cousin through a son at her level or below, who makes her a residuary heir with him. A daughter’s children do not inherit while closer heirs exist in the Sunni schools. Under Pakistani law the children of a son or daughter who died first can receive their parent’s share; see orphaned grandchildren and section 4.

Why a son receives twice as much

The difference follows the duties each one carries. A son must pay mehr when he marries and must support his wife, children and, when needed, his parents and unmarried sisters. A daughter’s share is entirely her own: she owes no one maintenance from it, her mehr and her husband’s support come on top of it, and she keeps it after marriage. Scholars point out that in several cases a woman inherits as much as a man (a mother and father with children each get 1/6) or more (a man leaving a wife, one daughter and a brother: the daughter takes 1/2, the brother 3/8).

How daughters lose their share, and why it is not valid

• “Haq bakhshwana”: a daughter is asked to sign her share over to her brothers. A gift is valid only when it is freely given; one made under family pressure, often before she even knows what she owns, is widely regarded by scholars as not a true gift, and Pakistani courts have set aside such transfers.
• Dowry instead of inheritance: jahez given at her wedding is a gift from the father in his lifetime. It does not replace her inheritance, which arises only at his death.
• Land only to sons: land is part of the estate like cash. Her share of every kanal and marla belongs to her, even if the family prefers to keep the land together. The heirs may agree that one of them keeps the land and pays her its value.
• Gifts to sons in the father’s lifetime: the Prophet ﷺ told Nu’man ibn Bashir’s father, who had given one son a gift, “Fear Allah and be fair between your children” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2587). Most scholars say lifetime gifts should be equal between children.

What Pakistani law says

Section 498A of the Pakistan Penal Code makes it a crime to deprive a woman of her inheritance by deceitful or illegal means, punishable with imprisonment of five to ten years, a fine of ten lakh rupees, or both. The Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act 2020 lets a woman in Islamabad who is kept out of her inheritance complain to the Ombudsperson (the office that also hears harassment complaints), who can order the property to be handed over. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a similar law of 2019. A lawyer can advise on the right route in each province.

What to do now

1. List everything the deceased left: cash, bank, land, house, gold and silver, and every debt.
2. Enter the family in the wirasat calculator (or the Urdu page) and choose your madhab. Each daughter’s share appears in rupees, marla and tola, with the reason.
3. Download the PDF with the shajra and share table, and show it to a mufti before dividing.
4. Once she receives her share, it counts with her own wealth for zakat; see zakat on inherited wealth.

Frequently asked questions