Difference of Religion

In Islamic law

The four schools hold that a Muslim and a non-Muslim do not inherit from one another as fixed heirs. This is among the most consequential rules for Canadian families, which are frequently religiously mixed.

In Canadian law

Canadian law imposes no such rule, and a will may leave anything to anyone. Where a family includes non-Muslim members, scholars commonly point to the discretionary one third as the mechanism for providing for them — and a court would give that full effect.

Across the madhahib

The rule concerns inheritance as a fixed heir. It is not treated as a bar to receiving a bequest out of the one third.

Canadian legal detail

Treadstone Law, an Ontario firm with a wills and estates practice, covers the Canadian side of this in more depth:

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