Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the inter-generational transfer by not only looking at the monetary transfer as discussed by many economists and sociologists but also by advancing the conceptual discussion and illustrating it with some examples of empirical comparison. Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides recent theoretical and empirical work on inter-generational transfer from the viewpoint of different systems and compares it to the Islamic view of inheritance. Findings – One finding of this paper is that the Islamic inheritance system is a socially and economically more comprehensive and broad framework than inter-generational transfers from another system. Originality/value – This paper is considered as an original approach to the framework of the Quranic basic source and Islamic literature regarding inter-generational transfer compared to another system.