are the same, so long as the testator remains alive. Thus, acceptance is considered only after death, even if only a moment afterward.
If he is informed that So-and-so has bequeathed a house to him, but does not accept immediately and delays his acceptance, there is nothing wrong with this. What matters is acceptance after death, even if it is delayed for a long time. It is not a condition that he accept as soon as he learns of the bequest, because, before the testator dies, a bequest is a non-binding contract. Likewise, before the beneficiary accepts it, it remains a non-binding contract: if he wishes, he accepts it, and if he wishes, he declines it.
Thus, one condition for the beneficiary’s acceptance is that it take place after death. If he accepts before it, his acceptance carries no legal weight.
Excluded from this are cases in which the bequest is made to someone legally incapable or to an unidentifiable class of persons.
An example of the first is if he bequeaths money to be spent on building mosques. It is not said that, for the bequest to be valid, the director of endowments must accept it, because mosques are an entity rather than an owner of property.
An example of the second is if he bequeaths money to the poor. It is not a condition that all the poor gather and say, “We accept the bequest,” because this is impossible. Similarly, if he makes a bequest to the descendants of Zayd, then, if they are a tribe, acceptance is not required because they cannot be individually identified. But if they are his direct descendants, they can be identified, so acceptance is required. As for the legally incapable and the unidentifiable class, the bequest takes effect merely upon the testator’s death.
“And ownership is established through it immediately after death. Whoever accepts it and then rejects it, his rejection is invalid. A bequest may be revoked …”
His statement, “And ownership is established through it,” means through acceptance.
His statement, “immediately after death”: even if a long period passes between the testator’s death and the beneficiary’s acceptance. Accordingly, any increase that occurs between the death of