Part 15

A: Based on the fact that the father made the gift in the dower of his son’s wife, he can in no way return it.

BEQUESTS A bequest or an acknowledgment of a debt?

Q: A man in his death illness said: “So and so sum of money should be paid to the orphans of such and such. It was not clear whether his saying was intended to be an acknowledgement of a debt he owed or a bequest?

A: If there was an indication in the context whether he intended an acknowledgement of a debt or a bequest, the deceased’s phrase should be interpreted in the light of such indication. If it cannot be distinguished, it will be considered as a bequest.

Making bequests of unequal shares to one’s children

Q: A man bequeathed unequal shares to his children and brought witnesses to attest such bequest in his deathbed. Can this bequest be effective or not?

A: An ill person is not permitted to assign a bequest to some of his children, to be delivered in his lifetime or after his death, nor to acknowledge a sum of money or property to one of his children. should he does an of the above, it will not be effective, unless after the consent of the remaining heirs. This is according to the consensus of Muslim scholars. Being a witness on such kind of bequests is not permissible, as it is regarded as supporting an unfair cause. Such kind of bequests or gifts is considered one of the greatest sins that bring about destruction to it their doer. This is because a bequest or a gift of such kind most likely leads to disagreement and even hatred and enmity among the heirs.

Q: A woman. bequeathed one-third of her property to her daughter before her death. The father of the girl then was made her guardian. The father then made a case at the court to prove such bequest. The court ascertained the death of the testatrix, her being bequeathed to her daughter, and that her father accepted to be a guardian of such bequest. The judge, however, could not issue a judgment to prove the bequest because of the inability to let the young girl make an oath to this effect due to her minority. Should her father take an oath instead of her? Or should the judge postpone the issuance of the judgment until the girl attains majority to take the oath herself?

A: The father should not take the oath instead of her daughter, nor should the judgment be postponed until the girl attains majority. Rather, the judgment should be issued immediately. There is not disagreement among scholars on this point, so long as no legal claim is made against the father that opposes his claim.

Annulment of a bequest

Q: A woman made a bequest in her illness to certain persons, including her husband and her brother. Long after, she gave birth to a male child, then died. Can the bequest she made be annulled in this case?

A: All that exceeds one-third of the bequest should be returned to the heirs. As for the bequest for the husband, it is not valid, as he is entitled to inheritance. As for the brother, the bequest for him is valid, as he cannot inherit in the presence of the son. Thus, the portion bequeathed to the brother and others should not exceed one-third of the whole estate, and it is to be distributed among them according to the shares specified by the deceased.

Can a nephew be an heir?

Q: A woman died and left behind a nephew (son of her sister). She allocated more than one-third of her estate as a charity. Can this bequest be effected, thus giving the nephew the rest of the estate?

A: A bequest should not exceed one-third out of the entire estate. More than one-third is not permitted, unless after the consent of the legal heirs. A nephew is entitled to inherit the entire estate, according to the opinion of the scholars who give the uterine relatives the right to inherit. This is the opinion of the majority of early Muslims (Salaf), Abu Hanifah, Ahmad, a group of the Shafi’i scholars, and a variant opinion in the Maliki School, in case the public treasury is deficient.

A bequest to a husband and a paternal uncle and a grandmother

Q: A woman died and left behind a father, a paternal uncle and a grandmother. He father had claimed her majority at the court before he gave her in marriage. In her death illness, she bequeathed one-half of her estate to her husband and the other one-half to her paternal uncle, giving nothing to her father and grandmother. Is this bequest valid?

A: The bequest for the paternal uncle is valid, but should not exceed one-third, except with the consent of other heirs. The bequest for the husband, however, is totally invalid, except if the heirs accepted it. If the heirs rejected the bequest of more than one-third to the paternal uncle, the husband will be entitled to half of the estate after deducting the portion bequeathed, i.e. one-third. The grandmother and the father will be entitled to one-sixth each.

A bequest of Hajj

Q: Five days prior to her death, a woman bequeathed some things, including Hajj, recitation of the Holy Qur’an. charity, etc. Is her bequest applicable?

A: If she bequeathed that one-third of her estate he dedicated to finance certain acts of devotion to pleasc

Allah, her bequest should be fulfilled, even in her death illness. If the bequest exceeds one-third of the whole estate, the increase should be excluded, except if the heirs consent. If the bequest is made for anything other than the acts of devotion, it will not be executable.

Benefit for the deceased

Q: A man bequeathed before his death that his wife should not give money to whomever recites Qur’an on his grave or recite Qur’anic verses and then dedicate them to him, claiming that his heart was already full of Qur’an and in need of no more. The wife knew that he could have not memorized the Holy Qur’an. Can his bequest be effective? The wife’s purpose is to give money to any needy person in return for reciting Qur’anic verses and dedicating them to her husband. Is she permitted to do so?

A: The bequest of the husband should be fulfilled, since the gratuity in return for recitation of the Qur’an on the grave ina religious innovation that should be avoided. It is only acceptable if made for free. This can be elaborated as follows:

1. Hiring someone to recite Qur’anic verses and

dedicate them to the deceased is not acceptable, and no reward of that will reach the deceased.

2. Hiring someone to recite Qur’anic verses only is also a religious innovation.

3. Hiring someone as an _ instructor of the Holy Qur’an is permissible.

If that woman desires to benefit her deceased husband, she may give charity on his behalf, as the reward of charity reaches the deceased, according to the unanimous agreement of scholars. If she gives charity to a group of poor reciters to fulfill their needs and enable them to give up the profession of reciting Qur’an on the graves, her charity will be rewardable and such reward will reach the deceased.

The guardian of the orphan girl

Q: An orphan girl has a wealth, and a person is proposing to her. Can her guardian sell some of her property to buy her the requirements of marriage that suits her social status?

A: Yes, the guardian can sell some of her property to buy her all necessities of the wedding on equitable terms.

THERIFANCE The share of the widow

Q: What is the share of the widow of the inheritance of her deceased husband, knowing that he left behind children?

A: The widow is entitled to her dower and all liabilities the husband owed her, just like other creditors. After deducting the amounts of debt and executable bequest out of the total of the estate, the wife is entitled to one-eighth of the estate due to the presence of the children.

The share of the husband from the inheritance of his deceased wife

Q: A woman died leaving behind a husband and two parents. The father seized her estate, claiming that his deceased daughter was not major. Is the husband entitled to inherit her?

A: The estate of the deceased wife is to be distributed as follows:

- One-half for the husband,

- One third for the father, and

- One-sixth for the mother. This is according to the view of the Four Juristic Schools, no matter she was major or not.

How to distribute the estate?

Q: Give each of the following heirs his/her share of inheritance: A husband, grandmother, full-brothers and a son?

- The husband is entitled to one-fourth,

- The grandmother is entitled to one-sixth,

- The son is entitled to the remaining portion of the estate,

- The full brothers receive nothing.

The sisters and the daughters

Q: A woman died leaving behind a husband, two daughters, a mother, and two full-sisters. Are the sisters entitled to a share of inheritance?

A: the question is to be divided as follows:

- The husband is entitled to one-fourth,

- The mother is entitled to one-sixth,

- The two daughters are entitled to two-thirds,

- The full-sisters will receive nothing in the presence of the daughters. This is according to the consensus of the Four Juristic Schools.

Paternal and maternal brothers and sisters

Q: A woman died leaving behind a husband, mother, fullsister and a_ paternal brother and sister. Give each his/her share of inheritance?

A: The question consists of ten shares, originally six, but turns to ten by virtue of the application of the scheme of distribution called ‘Awl. The question is called “Dhat AlFurukh” [the Mother of the Chicks,] due to the so many resort to the scheme of ‘Awl in it.

- The husband is entitled to half of the estate,

- The mother is entitled to one-sixth as a share,

- The full-sister is entitled to three shares,

- The paternal sister is entitled to one-sixth in order to complete the share of the two-thirds with the fullsister. The two maternal brother and sister are entitled to one-third as two shares. The total thus is ten shares. This is according to the consensus of the Muslim scholars.

A husband, mother and maternal sister

Q: A woman died leaving behind a husband, mother, and maternal sister. What is the share of each of inheritance?

A: This question is to be divided into eleven shares:

- The daughter is entitled six shares,