A net estate of $200,000 after funeral expenses, debts and any bequest. Here is what Islamic law does with it, and what Canadian law does.
Under faraid
| Heir | Share | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wife | 1/4 | $50,000 | one quarter, no children |
The fixed shares did not exhaust the estate and there is no residuary heir, so the surplus returns to the blood heirs in proportion to their shares. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools apply this directly; the classical Maliki and Shafi’i position sends the surplus to the bayt al-mal, which does not exist in Canada — later scholars in both schools generally permit radd here.
The fixed shares do not exhaust the estate and there is no blood heir to return the surplus to. Classically this passes to the bayt al-mal, which does not exist in Canada — take scholarly advice.
Shares total 1/4. Figures rounded to whole dollars.
Under Canadian law
Ontario gives the widow the entire estate.
What makes the difference
Her fixed share is one quarter. The remaining three quarters have no residuary heir, so the question becomes radd. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools return the surplus to blood heirs — of whom there are none here — and the classical Maliki and Shafi'i position sends it to the bayt al-mal. With no such institution in Canada, this needs scholarly advice rather than a mechanical answer.
Real estates involve debts, taxes, beneficiary designations and jointly held property that change the arithmetic substantially. Run your own family through the calculator, then confirm the result with a scholar and a lawyer.
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 one of the references below. Legislation and dollar thresholds change — verify against the primary source before relying on any figure.
- Research Papers — Cambridge Muslim College
- Academics — Islamic law and theology curriculum — Zaytuna College
- Renovatio: The Journal of Zaytuna College — Zaytuna College
- Oxford Islamic Studies / Oxford Reference — Oxford University Press
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- 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
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Administering estates — Government of Ontario
- Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13 — BC Laws
- Half relatives kindred rules ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Minor children inheritance intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Does intestacy affect rrsp or tfsa ontario — Treadstone Law
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Probate ontario bank account no will — Treadstone Law
- Common law spouse beneficiary designation vs intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy spouse multiple children ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law