Faraid explained: how the fixed shares actually work

Why this matters in Canada

The Qur'anic fractions, who takes them, how exclusion changes the answer, and where the four schools diverge.

Canadian law gives you broad freedom to decide who inherits, which is what makes an Islamic distribution enforceable here. What it will not do is apply that distribution on your behalf.

The Canadian position

Provincial legislation governs will formalities, intestate distribution, probate cost and the grounds on which a will can be challenged. Those four things differ meaningfully between provinces.

Assets passing by beneficiary designation or by survivorship never enter the estate at all, so they are outside both the will and the shares.

• Formal requirements for signing and witnessing.
• The intestate formula and any preferential share.
• Probate fees, which range from nothing to well over 1%.
• Who may bring a claim against the estate.

The Islamic position

Payment runs in a fixed order: funeral expenses, then debts including unpaid mahr and zakat arrears, then the bequest capped at one third, then the fixed shares.

The shares are conditional on who survives, so a will should express them as fractions rather than fixed amounts.

What to actually do

1. Have the shares calculated for your real family configuration by someone trained in faraid.
2. Instruct a lawyer in your province to draft them into a valid will.
3. Review every beneficiary designation and how property is held.
4. Name an executor and, if you have young children, a guardian and a trustee.
5. Record where the original will is kept so it can be found.

Common questions

Does Canadian law require faraid?

No. It permits it. That is why the shares have to be written down rather than assumed.

Which province's law applies?

Generally the one where the estate is administered, and for land the one where it sits.

Do I need both a scholar and a lawyer?

Usually. The scholar confirms the shares; the lawyer makes them enforceable here.