Guides & FAQs

Yes. The Messenger ﷺ taught that a Muslim with anything to bequeath should not let two nights pass without a written will kept with them. Beyond the reward, a will is the only way to secure three things at once:

• Your estate is divided by the Sharīʿah, not by the default rules of England and Wales.
• You receive an Islamic burial, led and located as you wish.
• People you trust — not a court — administer everything and honour each heir's exact share.

It is a normal, legally valid English will — but its instructions direct your estate according to the fixed Islamic shares (the farāʾiḍ), set out your funeral wishes, provide for missed worship, and appoint Muslim executors. It bridges two worlds: valid in the eyes of the law, and correct in the eyes of the Sharīʿah. The mechanism that makes this work is a trust: your estate passes to trustees you name, who are legally bound to apply the correct shares.

The law decides — through the intestacy rules, which do not follow the Sharīʿah. Your estate is divided by a fixed legal formula rather than the Islamic shares, an Islamic burial is not guaranteed, and a court-appointed administrator runs everything. Your Islamic duty is left unfulfilled, and any dispute is settled by the courts — not your family or a Mufti. The precise legal split is set out under "What are the intestacy rules?" in the English & Welsh law section.

Yes. Even a modest estate needs an executor, a funeral plan, and a clear record of your shares — otherwise your family faces delay, cost and possible dispute at the worst time. The template in the pack is free and takes little time.

A solicitor-drafted will gives the best protection (they are regulated and insured), and there are free and low-cost routes to one:

• Free Wills Month (March and October) — participating solicitors draft a simple will free for people aged 55+ (or a couple where one is 55+). You may be asked to consider a charity legacy, but you are not obliged.
• Will Aid (November) — solicitors write a basic will in return for a suggested donation to charity.
• The National Free Wills Network and some charities, unions and employers offer free or discounted wills.
• Low-cost online will services for straightforward estates, if you don't qualify for a free scheme.

Two things to remember for a Muslim will: a general free or online will may not be built around the Islamic shares, so still have the fiqh checked; and any charity legacy a scheme asks for comes out of your 1/3, which is entirely permissible.

No. English courts will not enforce a vague instruction to "distribute by Sharīʿah" on its own — it can be challenged or fall back to rules that ignore the Islamic shares. Your will needs a proper mechanism: it passes your estate to trustees you name, who are bound to apply the correct shares. The template does this for you.

Check it at least once a year, and review it properly every 3 to 5 years — or sooner after any big change: a marriage, a birth, a death, a divorce, buying property or a business, or moving country. Islamic shares are fixed by who is alive at your death, so keeping the will current keeps it accurate.

Present it as an act of care and obedience. The Messenger ﷺ said that a Muslim who has something to bequeath should not let two nights pass without his will written and kept with him (Bukhārī 2738, Muslim 1627), and he urged us to remember death often. Explain that a clear will spares the family he loves uncertainty, delay and dispute, and take the work off his hands:

• Bring the template and fill in the Assets & Liabilities Identifier together.
• Start with something gentle, such as funeral wishes or a Lasting Power of Attorney.
• Ask a respected imam or elder to raise it. They can often say what a child cannot.
• Use Free Wills Month (March and October, for those aged 55+) as a natural opening.
• Then keep him in your duʿāʾ.

Nothing is shared among the heirs until these steps are done, in this exact order:

• Funeral costs — a simple, dignified Islamic burial (family may also cover this voluntarily).
• Debts — loans, mortgage, unpaid bills, and money owed to others.
• The waṣiyyah (up to 1/3) — bequests to non-heirs and good causes, plus missed-worship dues.
• The fixed shares — the remaining 2/3 or more is distributed to the heirs by their Qurʾānic shares.

*Exception for a wife: her funeral costs are covered by her husband, not by her estate.

You may give away up to 1/3 of your net estate by will, to non-heirs and good causes. The other 2/3 or more is fixed by Allah for your heirs and cannot be redirected. When Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (RA) asked to give more, the Prophet ﷺ said "1/3 — and 1/3 is a lot; to leave your heirs wealthy is better than to leave them begging." The written will only ever controls the 1/3.

• Dhawil Furūḍ — the "fixed-share heirs," given a set fraction by the Qurʾān (such as a spouse, mother, or daughters). They are paid first.
• ʿAṣabah — the "residuary heirs," usually the male line (son, then father, then brother). They take whatever remains after the fixed shares are paid — which may be a lot, a little, or nothing.

Inheritance tax is charged on the net estate — after debts and reasonable funeral costs are deducted, not on the gross value. The Islamic shares are likewise calculated on what remains after funeral, debts and the waṣiyyah.

*Exception for a wife: her funeral costs are covered by her husband, not by her estate.