excerpt from Shaykh Mubashar Ahmad Rabbani’s book “Ahkām wa Masā’il – In the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah”:
Is it permissible to make a bequest (waṣiyyah) in favor of an heir?
If the deceased has made a bequest (waṣiyyah) or has any outstanding debts, then their fulfillment is obligatory before distributing the inheritance. Allah the Exalted states:
﴿مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِي بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ﴾
“(The prescribed shares shall be distributed) after the fulfillment of the bequest he may have made or any debt (he owed).”
[al-Nisāʾ: 11]
It should also be noted that:
Making a bequest in favor of an heir is not valid in Islam, because the shares of the heirs have been clearly and divinely allocated by Allah alone.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
❝Indeed, Allah has granted each rightful person his due right; therefore, there is no bequest for an heir.❞
Sunan al-Dārimī, Kitāb al-Waṣāyā, Chapter: Bequest for an Heir, Ḥadīth 3262 / 3260
Abū Dāwūd, Ḥadīth 3565
Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Ḥadīth 2120–2121
✔ A bequest (waṣiyyah) is valid only for non-heirs and up to one-third of the estate.
✖ Making a bequest in favor of an heir is prohibited, as their rightful shares have already been fixed by Allah ﷻ.
❖ Question:
Is it permissible to make a bequest (waṣiyyah) in favor of an heir?
❖ Answer:
If the deceased has made a bequest (waṣiyyah) or has any outstanding debts, then their fulfillment is obligatory before distributing the inheritance. Allah the Exalted states:
﴿مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِي بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ﴾
“(The prescribed shares shall be distributed) after the fulfillment of the bequest he may have made or any debt (he owed).”
[al-Nisāʾ: 11]It should also be noted that:
❖ A bequest can only be made in favor of
Making a bequest in favor of an heir is not valid in Islam, because the shares of the heirs have been clearly and divinely allocated by Allah alone.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
❝Indeed, Allah has granted each rightful person his due right; therefore, there is no bequest for an heir.❞
Sunan al-Dārimī, Kitāb al-Waṣāyā, Chapter: Bequest for an Heir, Ḥadīth 3262 / 3260 Abū Dāwūd, Ḥadīth 3565 Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Ḥadīth 2120–2121❖ Conclusion:
✔ A bequest (waṣiyyah) is valid only for non-heirs and up to one-third of the estate.
✖ Making a bequest in favor of an heir is prohibited, as their rightful shares have already been fixed by Allah ﷻ.
