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Kalalah

A person who dies leaving neither parent nor child.

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

A person who dies leaving neither parent nor child.

In Islamic law

The term used in Surah an-Nisa 4:176. Where a person dies kalalah, siblings inherit under rules set out specifically for that case.

In Canadian law

No equivalent category. Provincial intestacy moves to parents, then siblings, then more distant kin, without a special classification.

Across the madhahib

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:

Note

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.

Islamic primary sources
  1. Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
  2. Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
  3. Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
  4. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
  5. Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
Scholarly & institutional references
  1. Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
  2. Oxford Islamic Studies / Oxford Reference — Oxford University Press
Further reading — Treadstone Law
  1. Can you challenge a will before the person dies ontario — Treadstone Law
  2. Half siblings intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
  3. Dying without a will intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
  4. What happens to pets if owner dies without will ontario — Treadstone Law
  5. Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law