A net estate of $600,000 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 | 1/8 | $75,000 | one eighth with children |
| Mother | 1/6 | $100,000 | one sixth — children or two or more siblings survive |
| Sons (2, each) | 17/30 | $340,000 | residue as asabah, two shares each |
| Daughter | 17/120 | $85,000 | residue as asabah, one share each |
Shares total 1. Figures rounded to whole dollars.
Under Canadian law
Ontario gives the widow the $350,000 preferential share plus a third of the residue — about $433,333 — and splits the rest equally between the three children at roughly $55,555 each. His mother receives nothing at all.
What makes the difference
This is the single most common configuration in Canadian Muslim families, and the clearest illustration of the gap: a parent's fixed share simply does not exist in provincial law.
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
- Probate ontario bank account no will — Treadstone Law
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Ontario intestacy no spouse no children — Treadstone Law
- Does spouse inherit if no will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Who pays estate debts intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Intestacy spouse multiple children ontario — Treadstone Law
- Co ownership death no will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law