The fixed shares of inheritance prescribed in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
In Islamic law
Faraid (or 'ilm al-mirath) is the science of fixed inheritance shares. After debts, funeral costs and any valid wasiyyah, the remaining estate passes to defined heirs in defined fractions, drawn principally from Surah an-Nisa 4:11–12 and 4:176.
In Canadian law
Canada has no equivalent of compulsory heirship. A Canadian will can distribute according to faraid because testamentary freedom permits it — not because the law requires it. Absent a will, provincial intestacy rules apply instead and will rarely match faraid.
We have not yet researched whether the four Sunni schools differ on this term, so we are not going to tell you either way. Where a specific case turns on it, ask a qualified scholar rather than relying on a general summary.
Canadian legal detail
Treadstone Law, an Ontario firm with a wills and estates practice, covers the Canadian side of this in more depth:
- Adopted children inheritance intestacy ontario
- Minor children inheritance intestacy ontario
- Stepchildren inheritance rights intestacy ontario
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
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- Oxford Islamic Studies / Oxford Reference — Oxford University Press
- Adopted children inheritance intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Minor children inheritance intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Stepchildren inheritance rights intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Half relatives kindred rules ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law