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What is radd and how does it work in Canada?

Radd is the return of surplus to fixed-share heirs where no residuary heir exists.

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.

Radd is the return of surplus to fixed-share heirs where no residuary heir exists.

The Canadian position

No bayt al-mal operates in Canada, which is why later scholars in both schools generally permit radd here.

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

The Hanafi and Hanbali schools apply it; the classical Maliki and Shafi'i position sends the surplus to the treasury.

Confirm the position for your own family and school with a qualified scholar rather than relying on a general summary.

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.

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. Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
  2. Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
  3. Research — Cambridge Muslim College
  4. Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
Canadian legislation & government
  1. Administering estates — Government of Ontario
Canadian legal commentary
  1. Electronic will valid ontario — Treadstone Law
  2. Can you designate beneficiary in a will ontario — Treadstone Law
  3. Vexatious litigant order will dispute ontario — Treadstone Law
  4. How to update a will in ontario — Treadstone Law
  5. Multiple wills strategy reduce eat — Treadstone Law
  6. Discontinuing a will challenge ontario — Treadstone Law
  7. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law