Terminologies in Inheritance

Mirath – Gross Inheritance:

All movable or immovable property left behind by deceased whether the deceased earned it, inherited it or was gifted this property.

Warith – Heir:

A relative who may potentially inherit from the wealth of deceased

Wassiya – Will:

An order for allocation of certain amount of property of deceased after death based on his/her order. This is not allocated during the person’s lifetime rather is asked to be allocated after death.
A will of up to 1/3rd property is allowed. If a will is made in excess to this proportion then only 1/3rd will be spent on it. A will cannot be made for a person who is already entitled to receive a share as heir (warith)

Walad (awlaad) – Children (CH):

This include any one of the following: son (S), daughter (D), son’s son (SS), son’s daughter (SD), son’s son’s son (SSS), son’s son’s daughter (SSD).

Other types of grandchildren are not included in this definition however will be classified in Dhil-ihram (see below)

Ikhwa – Siblings (IK):

A total of 2 or more persons alive from real, paternal or maternal brothers and sisters, irrespective of their type or gender

Real brother (RB) and Real sister (RS):

siblings who have same parents as the deceased (haqiqi)

Paternal brother (PB) and Paternal sister (PS):

siblings who have same father as the deceased but have different mothers (step-siblings with a common father) (allati)

Maternal brother and Maternal sister (MT):

siblings who have same mother as the deceased but have different fathers (step-siblings with a common mother) (akhyafi)

Dhil-Furoodh- 1st tier of heirs

who have a prescribed proportion of share under different circumstances.

Asbah – Residuary (Res): 2nd tier of heirs

Their proportion is not fixed, rather after applicable distribution among Dhil-Furoodh, the rest is entitled to the closest relation among Asbah. Asbah are
male relatives related through a chain of males (exception: real sister and paternal sister)

Dhil-irham (DI) – 3rd tier of heirs

after Dhil-Furooz and Asbah. If there is still left over property after distribution to Dhil-Furooz, and there are no Asbah then Dhil-irham may be entitled to have a share. The closest in relationship will get all the remaining share.

Kalala

A person who at time of death does not have any living CH (S, D, SS, SD, SSS, SSD), nor has a living father or grandfather.