Jurisprudential Issues Related to Will (Waṣiyyah)
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Key Fiqhi Rulings on Waṣiyyah
❀ A disbeliever’s will – even in good deeds – is of no benefit; hence, its execution is not obligatory.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2507, Kitāb al-Waṣāyā: Bāb mā jāʾa fī Waṣiyyat al-Ḥarbī yuslim waliyyuh, Aḥmad: 2/181)
❀ Bequeathing Khilāfah (succession) in favor of someone is not proven from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
(Bukhārī: 7218, Kitāb al-Aḥkām: Bāb al-Istikhlāf, Muslim: 1823)
❀ The executor (waṣī) may pay off the deceased’s debt from his own personal wealth, and this is valid.
(Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/117, Aḥmad: 4/136, Ibn Mājah: 2433, Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr: 6/57, al-Bayhaqī: 10/142)
❀ Women and children are included among close relatives (aqārib).
(Bukhārī: 2753, Kitāb al-Waṣāyā: Bāb hal yadkhulu al-nisāʾ wal-walad fī al-aqārib)
❀ Executor of an orphan’s wealth may use it in a reasonable manner if he is needy.
(Bukhārī: 2764–2765, Kitāb al-Waṣāyā: Bāb wa mā lil-waṣī an yaʿmal fī māl al-yatīm)
❀ Making a will for an unborn child (ḥaml) is valid, provided the pregnancy is already established at the time of the will.
(al-Durr al-Mukhtār: 2/462, al-Sharḥ al-Ṣaghīr: 4/581, Mughnī al-Muḥtāj: 3/40, al-Muhadhdhab: 1/451, al-Mughnī: 6/56)
❀ Scholarly consensus: The beneficiary of a will must be specified and known, whether an individual or a group. However, the subject of the will does not necessarily have to be specified, such as bequeathing an unspecified portion of wealth.
(al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 7/7521, Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ: 7/356, al-Qawānīn al-Fiqhiyyah: p. 406, al-Muhadhdhab: 1/452, Ghāyat al-Muntaḥā: 2/363)
