How Much of His Wealth May a Person Bequeath?

Aamir bin Sa’d narrates that Hazrat Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Once I became so ill that I was near death. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) came to visit me, so I said, “O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)! I have a lot of wealth and my only heir is my one daughter. Can I give two-thirds of my wealth in charity?” He said, “No!” I said, “Then can I give half of my wealth in charity?” He said, “No!” I said, “And one-third?” He said, “One-third is much.”

Urwah narrates that Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said that people began to make bequests of less than one third, making it one fourth of their wealth, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had said: "One third is much."

Urwah narrates that Hazrat Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) made a will for one third of his wealth.

It is narrated from Nafi‘ that Hazrat Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) said that when the mention of bequeathing one third of wealth was brought before Hazrat ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: One third is a moderate amount. It is neither too little nor too much.

It is narrated from Mak'hool that Hazrat Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah Almighty has granted you an increase in your life by giving you one third of your wealth, and by this he meant the bequest (wasiyyah).

Khalid bin Abi Azza narrates that Hazrat Abu Bakr said: I take from my wealth as much as Allah Almighty has taken from the wealth of fai, after that he made a bequest of one-fifth of his wealth.

Dhahhak states that Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had made a bequest of one-fifth of their wealth.

Bakr narrates that Hazrat Humaid bin Abdur Rahman said: I do not accept the will of a person who has made a bequest of one-third of his wealth while having children.

Muhammad narrates that Hazrat Shurayh said that one third of the wealth is very excellent and its bequest is permissible.

Yazid bin Shakhir narrates that Hazrat Mutarrif considered the bequest of one-fifth of wealth to be good.

A’mash narrates that Ibrahim said: The scholars used to say that the person who bequeaths one-fifth of his wealth is better than the one who bequeaths one-fourth, and the one who bequeaths one-fourth is superior to the one who bequeaths one-third of his wealth.

It is narrated from Ismail that Hazrat Sha'bi said that the earlier people used to bequeath one-fifth or one-fourth of their wealth, and one-third of the wealth is the utmost limit for haste. In Ibn Numair's narration, it is stated that one-third is the extreme limit of haste.

32972 - Ibn Numayr said: The utmost limit of restraint.

Harith narrates that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I prefer to bequeath one-fifth of my wealth rather than one-fourth, and I prefer to bequeath one-fourth rather than one-third, and whoever made a bequest left nothing for his heirs.

It is narrated from Abu Ammar that Hazrat Amr bin Shurahbil said that making a will for one third of the wealth is injustice, and making a will for one fourth of the wealth is also injustice.

Malik bin Harith narrates that Hazrat Abbas said: A bequest of one-fourth is injustice, and a bequest of one-third of wealth is injustice.

It is narrated from Hazrat Mansur that Ibrahim said: Having one-sixth in a will is better than having one-third.

Ata reports that Hazrat Abu Abdur Rahman said that the scholars considered it good for a person to leave something for the heirs from one third of his wealth.