Islamic Law of Succession and the Estate Planning Needs of Muslim Professionals in Abuja

Muslim professionals in Abuja, as the Federal Capital Territory with a diverse and educated Muslim population, increasingly recognise the need for estate planning that complies with Islamic inheritance law (Mirath) while also addressing the complexities of modern assets including insurance policies, pension accounts, corporate shares, and digital assets. This study examines the estate planning needs of Muslim professionals in Abuja and the extent to which Islamic succession law adequately addresses these needs. A descriptive survey methodology is applied to 200 Muslim professionals across legal, medical, engineering, and civil service sectors in Abuja, selected through purposive sampling. Questionnaire items assess awareness of Islamic inheritance law, estate planning practices, knowledge of faraidh (inheritance shares), and familiarity with instruments such as Islamic wills and trust structures. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis are computed in SPSS. Available literature on Islamic estate planning in urban Nigeria identifies a significant gap between Islamic inheritance obligations and actual succession planning behaviour among educated Muslims. The classical Fiqh rules of Mirath and the contemporary scholarship on Islamic wills for modern assets provide the analytical framework. Findings are expected to reveal high awareness of general inheritance principles alongside low formal estate planning. Recommendations address professional Islamic estate planning advisory services, model Islamic will drafting, and professional legal development in Islamic succession law for legal practitioners in Abuja. Keywords: Islamic succession, estate planning, Muslim professionals, Abuja, Mirath.