Possibly not, and this is one of the most serious gaps affecting Muslim families in Canada. Provincial inheritance rights generally depend on being legally married or a qualifying common-law partner.
The Canadian position
Only legally married spouses inherit on an Ontario intestacy; common-law partners do not, though they may bring a dependant support claim.
Several other provinces do treat a qualifying common-law partner as a spouse. Whether a nikah alone creates a legal marriage depends on whether it was solemnised in compliance with provincial marriage law.
The Islamic position
A valid nikah establishes mutual inheritance rights religiously. The problem is that a Canadian court applies Canadian law, and the religious marriage may have no civil standing.
A valid nikah is one of the three causes of inheritance the four imams agree on, and all four schools agree the contract is formed by offer and acceptance — though they differ over the wali and the witnesses. On the two questions that actually decide estates the split is three-to-one, and it runs opposite ways. The Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools hold that an irregular (fasid) marriage creates no inheritance at all, and that a marriage contracted in a death-illness is perfectly valid and does let the new spouse inherit. The Maliki school reverses both.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Which marriages let a spouse inherit.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
What to do about it
- Find out whether your marriage is civilly registered in your province.
- If it is not, get advice — registering may be straightforward.
- Either way, make a will. A will can provide for a spouse whom intestacy would leave with nothing.
Assuming a mosque ceremony created a legal marriage. Many did not, and the discovery usually comes at the worst possible time.
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.
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Family Law Act, RSO 1990, c F.3 — Government of Ontario
- Dependant support claim out of province estate ontario — Treadstone Law
- Common law partner dependant support claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- How does intestacy treat common law children — Treadstone Law
- Common law partner intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law