Understanding Faraid

Faraid is the Islamic Inheritance Law. Faraid is an Arabic word that literally means a share that has been predetermined. Predetermined by God of course.

Faraid itself is a complex subject. It is superbly comprehensive and very interesting. As all properties in this world belong solely to Allah and He has given us the mandate to utilize it as his agent when we are alive, naturally, when we die, His property should be distributed back into the economy according to how He wants it to be.

I was lucky to have taken this subject back when I was an undergraduate at AIKOL in IIUM. Back in 2003, my lecturer, Dr. Ungku Fadzil, gave my class a systematic way of understanding faraid with complete notes. (Thank you Sir! Your lecture and notes rock!!!) Alhamdulillah I scored an A- in this paper. I still have the notes with me and have been referring to it every now and then. Last semester break, I managed to sit down and rewrite the notes again as the old one was old and the paper looks like it’s about to disintegrate anytime.

Faraid is part of my studies for Wealth Planning and Management this semester. Having some background in faraid, I asked some of my classmates if they wanted to have a discussion on faraid as a preparation for the exams. I thought the group was going to be around 5-6 pax but almost 25 of my friends turned up for the tutorial!!!

I got up way before Subuh to prepare myself for the class. I knew it was complex and I wanted to make sure that I manage to clarify instead of confuse them even more.

The tutorial started about 2.30pm and ended around 5.30pm.

I started the class by saying that the authority for faraid can be derived from the Quran and Sunnah. Saydina Ali (ra) then gathered the authorities and developed a more systematic approach to the subject. He was like the grand master of faraid (after the Prophet that is!). He was so good that if you mention to him that you have received say so much of the property, he can calculate backwards and tell you who else survived the deceased person and if what you got is right. In other words, he is an expert in faraid. Unfortunately, I cannot do that. So I cannot be regarded as an expert in this field. Haha.

3 hours of writing all the formulas on the whiteboard, explaining the fractions, conditions, groups, impediments and circumstances surrounding the distribution of the praepositus (or deceased person) is one difficult task. I was jumping from one end to the other showing why a grandfather will block the great grandfather or how a son’s daughter will need a great grandchild to turn her into residual heir or else she won’t get anything and how two daughters will block a granddaughter from inheriting.

What I learned in four months was summarized into a three hour lecture!

It was a very heavy subject and to cramp it into 3 hours really drains your mental health.

But Alhamdulillah I think the class went well. My classmates asked questions and we discussed the answers. Alhamdulillah I managed to answer all of the questions and am quite sure that I was right about it even though some answers trickled into my mind towards the end of the class. At first I said that I am not sure of the answer as I just cannot recall the answer. Then as I continued explaining other points, I felt like God twitched a part of my brain and opened one door inside it where all of the answers are there. The answers came to me like someone had just said it to me out loud! 

Fantastic feeling I tell you!

It was indeed a very satisfying experience for me. 

I never knew that I enjoyed teaching this much. I felt like I managed to lift all of the preparation that I did from morning and passed it all to my friends in the class at the end of the lecture. All of the exhaustion that came from the preparation and the lecturing was so worthwhile at the end of the class.

Faraid is indeed a very important subject in the overall of wealth planning. The Prophet said:

“Learn Faraid, and teach them to people; for it is one half of knowledge and it will be forgotten and the first to be taken up from my community”

I hope the class yesterday could comprehend faraid and attempt to answer the long essay in the final exam next week. (Although I do apologise if you could not understand my explanation. This is my first attempt in lecturing about faraid...)

If any of you taking Wealth Planning and Management this semester is reading this post, GOOD LUCK!!!

Blog adjourned!