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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Making an Islamic Will Writing an Islamic Will Is it necessary? Although the law (Canadian as well as Islamic) does not say that making of the will is a must, but by looking at the consequences of not having a will, it is necessary - both from legal aspect as well from the shari’ah aspect. Firstly, if a person dies without a will, the government appoints an executor who will divide the estate among the heirs as he/she seems fit.

The pay of the executor for this job will come out of your estate, and the government system takes it time in getting jobs done! Secondly, from the shari’ah point of view, your heirs may get more or less than the shares specified for them in Islam. By not writing a will, you are leaving the door open for a non-Islamic authority to distribute your estate according to its own views. So not having a will is costly as well as problematic from both Canadian and Islamic points of view.

Considering the consequences, I think it is wâjib for a Muslim in Canada to have an Islamic will; more so when you realize that the law of the land allows you to do so. The One-Third Option After a person dies, what is the relationship between him and his estate? There are three possibilities: • He has full control over it through a will. • He has partial control over it through a will. • He has absolutely no control over it. Islam has taken the middle position.

It says that when a person dies, he still retains the right to decide about up to one-third of his entire estate. But as far as the two-third is concerned, the deceased person loses the right to dispose according to his wish. The two-third must be divided according to the shares specified by the shari'ah. (Most of these shares have been specified in the Quran itself.) This law is part of the over-all system which Islam has introduced for the distribution of wealth in society.

This right of disposing the one-third according to your own wish can be exercised only by making a will. You can do whatever you like with the one-third: give to a family-member, a relative, a friend, a charitable cause or organization, etc. For example, you can use the 1/3 or a part of it to make -if you like- the shares of your wife or your daughter equal to those of your other children.

When the Qur'an talks about wasiyyat which is normally translated as “will”, it refers to the will covering the one-third only. For example, it says, O you who believe!