Kalalah is a person who dies leaving neither parent nor child.
The Canadian position
Canadian intestacy moves to parents, then siblings, without a special classification.
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
Siblings inherit under rules set out specifically for this case in Surah an-Nisa 4:176.
Confirm the position for your own family and school with a qualified scholar rather than relying on a general summary.
The brothers and sisters come into the estate, and the Qur’an splits them in two. 4:12 gives the uterine siblings — those who share the mother only — a sixth if there is one of them and a third to share if there are more, divided equally between brother and sister. 4:176 gives the full or consanguine siblings a half for one sister, two-thirds for two or more, and, where a brother is among them, twice the share to the male. That the first verse means the mother’s children specifically is recorded as ijma‘ by both the Kuwaiti Mawsu’a and Ibn Qudama. Siblings of every kind inherit only where no child and no father survives — that is what kalalah means.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Kalalah — who inherits when there is no parent and no child?.
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
- Half siblings intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Can you challenge a will before the person dies ontario — Treadstone Law
- Dying without a will intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy spouse one child ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law