Introduction to Fractions when calculating the distribution in Islamic Wills (Part 2)

This article continues on the concepts introduced in Part 1 to discuss how fractions are added and subtracted. You should be familiar with the concepts introduced in Part 1 of this article. Click on the following link to view this article: Part 1 of "Introduction to Fractions when calculating the distribution in Islamic Wills"

For the purpose of this article, we use will the following scenario. The scope of this article is to only explain how to use fractions and not how these fractions were determined.

• 1 Wife => 1/8
• 1 Mother => 1/6
• 1 Son => Rest of Estate(i.e. 17/24)

The article is split in the following sections:

1. Adding fractions
2. Subtracting Fractions

Adding fractions

When adding a fraction, there is only one rule. THE DENOMINATOR MUST BE THE SAME. You cannot add fractions that have different denominators. This section will assume that the denominators are the same. The following section will show you how to deal with adding fractions that have different denominators.

When the denominator is the same, adding fractions is simple. Simply add the numerators together and leave the denominator the same. From our example above, the numerators are added to get 7 and the denominator remains the same at 24.

You must CHANGE the fraction so that the denominator is be the same. There are two ways to change the denominator; using "Least Common Multiples", and "Multiplying it out". Each way can be used. The following two sections will explain each method.

"Multiplying it out"

The easiest way to change two fractions that have different denominators so that they are same, is to use the following three steps:

1. Multiply the left numerator by the right denominator. This will be the numerator of the first fraction.


2. Multiply the right numerator by the left denominator. This will be the numerator of the second fraction.


3. Multiply the denominators by each other. This will be the denominator of both fractions.

You can now add both fractions to get 14/48.

Least Common Multiple

This method finds a number that each of the other two denominators (i.e. 6 and 8) can be mulitiplied to. It involves the following four steps:

1. List out each multiple of the denominators as shown in the diagram. Continue until a common answer is found. In this scenario, 24 is the number that both 6 and 8 can multiply to.


2. Multiply the first numberator by the number that needed to be multiplied to get to 24. For the first fraction it is 4.


3. Multiply the second numberator by the number that needed to be multiplied to get to 24. For the second fraction it is 3.


4. The denominators of both fractions are both 24.

You can now add both fractions to get 7/24.

Subtracting Fractions

To calculate the son's share, we must find the remainder of the estate. The mother's share and wife's share add up to 7/24. Use the following to steps to calculate the son's share.

1. The total value of the estate uses the denominator of the other fraction (i.e. 24). The total value is then 24 / 24. This is considered 100% of the estate.


2. Subtract the numerator


3. The denominator remains the same

Therefore, the son's share is 17/24.

Submitted on Jul-20-2009

Written by The Islamic Wills Company Ltd

The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.