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From Nikah to Waqf: Your Complete FAQ Guide

From Marriage Contracts to Family Waqfs, find clarity for every stage of life. Search our knowledge base or submit your question here.

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What if I want customized solutions that aren't in your software?

If you have a more complex estate, want customized solutions, or even just want an attorney to review your Shariawiz Islamic Prenuptial Agreement before you sign, reach out to us! Shariawiz is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, but we can provide you with the contact information of a lawyer you may consult on the matter.

What is a Power of Attorney and why do I need it?
A power of attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone you trust to act on your behalf in financial and legal matters. The person you appoint can act on your behalf while you are alive or if you become incompetent.
There are many reasons for having a Power of Attorney. For example, a member of the military being deployed overseas, leaving behind their families, should have a power of attorney. He or she needs to appoint someone to act on their behalf to handle certain legal, financial and familial affairs while they are deployed. A child moving to college is another example, for the same reasons. A person that travels for work often should have a Power of Attorney appointing a trusted person to attend to his affairs in the event of long absences.
Further, If you are in retirement or have health issues, a Power of Attorney makes life so much easier for your loved ones to attend to your affairs - including paying bills, dealing with medical insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare offices, and everything in between.
Our Power of Attorney is affordable, and quick and easy to prepare. Use our POWER OF ATTORNEY (HYPERLINK) software to appoint a representative to handle your affairs in your absence or in case you become incapacitated.
Can I sign a Prenuptial Agreement after I get married?

No, a Prenuptial Agreement must be signed pre-marriage. Your Muslim Marriage Contract, on the other hand, will be signed during the Islamic marriage ceremony.

Do I have to include a schedule of assets in my will?
Making a Sharia-Compliant will does not require a schedule of assets, but you should appoint an executor who is familiar with your financial portfolio. Your assets at the time of your death may not be the same assets at the time you made your will. The Islamic inheritance system is a default fixed share system. All of the eligible assets you owned at the time of your death will become part of your Estate. Your executor will gather them and distribute them to your Islamic heirs as contained in your will. The distribution may include selling all or part of your assets. The proceeds from the sale will be distributed to the benefit of all beneficiaries according to their Islamic inheritance share. If you live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin), you are required to prepare a schedule of assets as part of your estate plan in order to clarity and identify the type of ownership title for each asset: (i) husband’s separate property; (ii) wife’s separate property; (iii) the parties’ joint property/community property.
Can I change/update my Prenuptial Agreement?

Yes, after purchase, you and your potential spouse can agree to make changes or update the Shariawiz Islamic Prenuptial Agreement as you see fit, as long as it is done before signing. After you sign the documents, you cannot change or sign your Prenuptial Agreement.

To make changes, simply log back into your Shariawiz account, visit your Dashboard, and click "Edit Document." Your potential spouse will receive notice that a change has been made that he/she must agree to before the document can be downloaded for signing.

NOTE: Your Prenuptial Agreement cannot be changed, amended, or revoked after it has been signed and notarized without attorney assistance.

What should we do after signing?

If you've both signed your Shariawiz Islamic Prenuptial Agreement and had your Islamic marriage ceremony, then congratulations! You should both have an original copy of the Prenuptial Agreement and should keep it in a safe place. A fire-proof filing cabinet or home safe is a great place to keep important documents.

I have a complicated estate that requires unique solutions. What should I do?
Shariawiz is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. If you have a complex estate, you should retain a lawyer. If you require complex estate planning expertise or just want to retain an attorney to handle the drafting of your estate plan, email us at [email protected]. We will provide you with the contact information of several estate planning law firms for you to consult about your matter.
Have a question that you don't see here?

We'd be happy to help! Simply reach out to us via phone or email to ask us your question! Or, enter a webchat here on the website to be connected to a customer support specialist.

Our team is standing by Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm EST to answer any questions or assist with whatever you may need. Salaams!

If my only surviving Islamic heir is my spouse, would my spouse take the entire estate?
Yes.

A surviving spouse would first take his or her prescribed share from the estate. A wife’s Islamic inheritance share would be 1/4 (or 1/8 if the husband had children) of her husband's net estate. A husband’s Islamic inheritance share would be 1/2 (or 1/4 if the wife had children) of his wife's net estate. The balance left in the estate would go to the decedent’s surviving Islamic heirs like parents, children, or siblings.

But what happens if there are no other surviving Islamic heirs?

Except for Uthman Ibn Afan, who held that a spouse is entitled to share in radd like the other obligatory Islamic heir takers, the Shāfi’ī, Hanafī, Hanbalī, and Mālikī Schools hold that while spouses are obligatory heirs (ahl al-fara’id), they are not entitled to radd.

Today, the majority of Muslim countries, including Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, provide that while they do not permit a spouse to take radd if there are any other surviving Islamic heirs, they do permit a spouse to take radd if there are no other surviving Islamic heirs. So if the sole surviving Islamic heir is a spouse, the spouse would take his or her Quranic share plus the balance remaining in the estate by radd.
Can my spouse and I make a joint Sharī‘a-compliant will?
A joint will that is also called a “mirror will,” “mutual will,” or “reciprocal will” is a will that may be executed by a married couple to ensure that their property is disposed of identically at time of death. In a standard joint will, the wife and husband make identical wills that provide when one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse receives everything, and when both of them pass away, the estate would be left to their children or other beneficiaries. Except for your spouse, American law allows you to leave your estate to anyone, and for the most part you are free to disinherit any family member (with a few exceptions in some states).

The Sharī‘a, on the other hand, is a fixed share system. You have restrictions on the distribution of your estate. The Sharī‘a has certain gender-specific obligations and the inheritance rights of each spouse's beneficiaries are different. For example, the parents of one spouse are not the legal heirs of the other spouse. The inheritance distribution of each spouse is also different. For these reasons, the Sharī‘a does not permit a person to leave his entire estate to the surviving spouse. For this fundamental reason, a joint will would violate the requirements of the Sharī‘a.

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