two. He said, “No.” He asked, “Then one-third”—and one-third is one out of three. The Prophet ﷺ said: “One-third—and one-third is much.” (1) That is, there is no objection to one-third, even though it is a considerable amount. Ibn ‘Abbas’s understanding of the matter was that he said: “If only people would reduce it from one-third to one-quarter, for the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘One-third—and one-third is much.’” (2) This indicates that it should be less than one-third.

Thus, we say to one suffering from a life-threatening illness: Do not give more than one-third in charity.

Secondly: do not give in charity to an heir. This is prohibited, because the cause by which the property passes to the heirs has now come into effect.

His statement, “unless the heirs approve it,” means that they become heirs after death. If they approve it before death, their approval is not accepted or taken into account. Thus, if this sick person gathers his heirs and says to them, “This heir among you is poor, and I wish to give him something from my wealth,” and they say, “There is no objection,” it is still not permissible, because their approval at that time is not valid.

How do we infer that their approval is not valid so long as he is alive? From the wording, “the heirs,” for they cannot truly be heirs until after death. This is the view adopted by the author, may Allah have mercy on him. It was also said that, if he is suffering from a life-threatening illness, then