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How do I make an Islamic will in Toronto?

The same way as anywhere in Ontario — a will valid under provincial law whose distribution clauses set out the faraid shares explicitly.

Draft — pending review. This page has been prepared but has not yet been reviewed by a Canadian estates lawyer or a qualified scholar. Treat it as a starting point for questions, not as advice you should act on.

The same way as anywhere in Ontario — a will valid under provincial law whose distribution clauses set out the faraid shares explicitly.

The Canadian position

Toronto follows Ontario law, administered through the Superior Court of Justice. Formal requirements for signing and witnessing are provincial, not municipal.

Local mosques often know which lawyers in the area regularly draft Islamic wills, which shortens the search considerably.

The Islamic position

Have the shares calculated for your actual family configuration before you see the lawyer. That is the scholar's role, not the lawyer's.

Bring the calculation, the list of assets, and your choice of executor and guardian to the drafting meeting.

Across the madhahib

The four Sunni schools are not recorded as differing materially on this point in the sources reviewed. Where your own case turns on it, put it to a scholar of your school.

What to do about it

  1. Get the faraid shares calculated for your family.
  2. Instruct a lawyer to draft them into a provincially valid will.
  3. Review every beneficiary designation.
  4. Record where the original is kept.
Before you act on this

General information, not legal or religious advice. Inheritance depends entirely on the exact family circumstances. Confirm the Canadian position with a lawyer in your province and any religious ruling with a qualified scholar.

Citations & sources

Every factual claim on this page traces to one of the references below. Legislation and dollar thresholds change — verify against the primary source before relying on any figure.

Islamic primary sources
  1. Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
  2. Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
  3. Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
  4. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
  5. Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
Scholarly & institutional references
  1. Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
  2. Research — Cambridge Muslim College
  3. Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
  4. Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
Canadian legislation & government
  1. Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
  2. Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario
Canadian legal commentary
  1. Charitable donation through will tax credit — Treadstone Law
  2. Estranged child disinheritance ontario will — Treadstone Law
  3. Severance partly valid will costs ontario — Treadstone Law
  4. Does ontario require witness to sign in testators presence — Treadstone Law
  5. Burden of proof in a will challenge ontario — Treadstone Law
  6. Capacity to marry vs capacity to make a will ontario — Treadstone Law
  7. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law