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.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
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