Hajb is exclusion, where a nearer heir blocks a more distant one.
The Canadian position
Canadian intestacy orders by degree of kinship, but the exclusions do not correspond.
Canadian law gives effect to whatever a valid will says, so an Islamic concept takes effect here through the drafting rather than automatically.
The Islamic position
Total exclusion removes an heir entirely; partial exclusion reduces their share.
Confirm the position for your own family and school with a qualified scholar rather than relying on a general summary.
Six relatives can never be excluded from an estate outright — the father, the mother, the husband, the wife, the son and the daughter — and the Kuwaiti Mawsu’a records that by ijma‘. Everyone else can be. Exclusion comes in two grades: hajb hirman, being shut out completely, and hajb nuqsan, being moved from a larger fraction to a smaller one. Three rules do most of the work: a relative who reaches the deceased through another heir is excluded while that heir lives; the nearer of the same kind excludes the more remote; and the stronger blood tie excludes the weaker.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Hajb — when does one heir shut another out?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
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
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
- Missing heir intestacy ontario estate — Treadstone Law
- Is ontario will valid if signed by one witness — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy spouse one child ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law