Rarely appropriate. Charities can receive gifts but seldom have the capacity or the neutrality to administer an estate.
The Canadian position
Rarely appropriate. Charities can receive gifts but seldom have the capacity or the neutrality to administer an estate.
Provincial law governs the detail, so confirm the position where the estate will be administered.
The Islamic position
The fixed shares apply to the net estate after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest capped at one third.
Where a Canadian instrument has no classical counterpart, treat it as a contemporary question for a qualified scholar.
Where the four schools differ
This question turns on one issue in our madhhab register: Who may be appointed wasi (executor and guardian) — what does a person have to be, for a Muslim’s appointment of them as wasi to hold good?
| School | Position |
|---|---|
| MalikiShafi’iHanbali | They are conditions of validity. The wasi must be of age and of sound mind, Muslim, and of established integrity (‘adala — in the Maliki formulation, trustworthiness and the competent handling of a child’s property). An appointment that fails one of these does not take effect at all: a Muslim cannot validly appoint a non-Muslim over his children or his estate, and Ibn Qudama records Malik and al-Shafi’i, with one of the two reports from Ahmad, as holding the same of a person of doubtful integrity. The Shafi’i list adds that the wasi be free, not an enemy of the person in his charge, and not of unknown character; a blind man may serve. The Maliki school adds that a wasi who later loses a qualification — who apostatises, or becomes incapable — is removed. Sources: al-Fiqh ‘ala al-Madhahib al-Arba‘a, vol. 3, “Mabhath al-wasi al-mukhtar” (the chosen executor), school by school (‘Abd al-Rahman al-Jaziri (d. 1360 AH)) · al-Mughni, Kitab al-Wasaya, fasl 4773: “fi man tasihhu’l-wasiyyatu ilayhi wa man la tasihh” (who may be appointed wasi) (Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 620 AH)) — each school’s list of conditions set out separately in al-Jaziri, and Malik, al-Shafi’i and Ahmad separately named in al-Mughni on the person of doubtful integrity. |
| Hanafi | The appointment stands; the judge fixes it. Where the person named is a minor, a non-Muslim, or of doubtful integrity, the appointment is valid and anything he does before he is removed takes effect — but the judge must replace him with someone qualified, substituting a Muslim for a non-Muslim, and removing a person of doubtful integrity only where he is actually suspected with the money. A wasi who meets every condition may not be removed by the judge at all, because he stands in the place of the deceased who chose him. Ibn Qudama states that a Muslim’s appointment of a non-Muslim is invalid with no disagreement he knows of; al-Jaziri records this Hanafi rule expressly, so the attribution of unanimity is not one we can pass on. Sources: al-Fiqh ‘ala al-Madhahib al-Arba‘a, vol. 3, “Mabhath al-wasi al-mukhtar” (the chosen executor), school by school (‘Abd al-Rahman al-Jaziri (d. 1360 AH)) · al-Mughni, Kitab al-Wasaya, fasl 4773: “fi man tasihhu’l-wasiyyatu ilayhi wa man la tasihh” (who may be appointed wasi) (Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 620 AH)) — the Hanafi conditions, and the valid-but-removable structure, set out in al-Jaziri; Abu Hanifa separately named in al-Mughni on the person of doubtful integrity. |
Researched positions from our madhhab register — issue wasi-appointment, reviewed 2026-08-19.
For a Canadian Muslim the practical bite of this is narrow but real. Naming a non-Muslim executor — a trust company, a professional trustee, a spouse who has not converted — is a live question, and three of the four schools treat such an appointment as ineffective in itself. That is a fiqh conclusion, not an Ontario one: provincial law will appoint whoever the will names. Families who care about the point usually solve it by naming a qualified person and letting them retain professional help, which no school objects to.
Full positions, evidence and history: Who may be appointed wasi (executor and guardian) — the issue page.
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Leaving gifts to charities in a will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Executor charitable gifts in will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Executor entitled receive gift and fees ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law