Chapter: The Beneficiary of the Bequest

A bequest is valid for anyone capable of owning property.

His statement, “Chapter: The beneficiary of the bequest”: In this subject, we have the beneficiary of the bequest, the object bequeathed, the executor, the testator, and the bequest itself.

The testator is well known: he is the one making the voluntary gift. The bequest is the contract issued by the testator. The beneficiary of the bequest is the one to whom the deceased bequeaths something, so that it becomes his property. The object bequeathed is the specific property or benefit that is bequeathed. The executor is analogous to an agent during the testator’s lifetime; that is, the person instructed to administer matters after the death. This will come later, if Allah wills.

His statement, “A bequest is valid for anyone capable of owning property”: This is the governing principle. If it is asked: For whom is a bequest valid? The answer is: for everyone capable of owning property. As for one who cannot own property, a bequest to him is invalid. Thus, if someone bequeaths something to another person’s slave, the bequest is invalid, because—according to the well-known position in the madhhab—the slave of another does not own property. It is not to be said that it is valid and belongs to his master, because the testator may have intended the slave himself, wishing to show him compassion and kindness. Therefore, the bequest is invalid.

Likewise, if he bequeaths something to a jinnī—that is, if he has a jinnī friend who serves him, assists him in his affairs, and studies knowledge with him—and bequeaths something to him, it is invalid, even though the jurists say that a jinnī’s claim that what is in his possession belongs to him is accepted. Thus, if we were to find a jinnī holding a wallet and attending the lesson—