Arrange the janazah, get multiple copies of the statement of death, locate the original will, and do not distribute or dispose of anything.
The Canadian position
The funeral director issues a statement of death immediately; the provincial death certificate follows and is what institutions require.
Accounts are typically frozen on notice of death, though funeral expenses can usually be released.
The Islamic position
Burial comes first and quickly. Administration can wait a day; the janazah cannot.
Hastening the burial is recommended, not obligatory, and no school lays down a 24-hour rule — that figure is a community convention, not a fiqh ruling. What the schools differ on is how serious a delay is: the Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools call it disliked, the Shafi’i school forbidden. All four reverse the rule where death is not yet certain, and we found no school addressing a coroner’s investigation or a burial permit — a delay forced by Canadian law has no classical ruling of its own.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — How soon must a Muslim be buried?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
What to do about it
- Call a funeral home experienced with Muslim burial.
- Notify the masjid.
- Get several copies of the statement of death.
- Find the original will before anything is cleared out.
- Do not give anything away, however small.
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.
- What to do when someone dies — Government of Ontario
- Apply for probate of an estate — Government of Ontario
- Estate Administration Tax — Government of Ontario
- Estates Act, RSO 1990, c E.21 — Government of Ontario
- Are funeral expenses paid first insolvent estate ontario — Treadstone Law
- First steps after death ontario estate — Treadstone Law
- Notifying institutions government after death ontario — Treadstone Law
- How to get a death certificate ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law