Chapter: The Executor of the Will

The appointment by a Muslim of any Muslim executor who is legally responsible, upright, and competent in managing affairs is valid . . .

His statement, “Chapter: The Executor of the Will”: the executor is not one of the essential elements of a will. The essential elements are: the testator, the beneficiary, the bequeathed property, and the wording—which may also be regarded as an essential element. But the executor is not an essential element, because he is an additional matter: the testator may simply say, “I bequeath such-and-such to so-and-so,” and leave it at that.

The executor is the person entrusted with administering matters after the testator’s death, whether concerning wealth or rights. He is comparable to an agent acting on behalf of the living, and he must fulfil certain conditions.

His statement, “The appointment by a Muslim of any Muslim executor who is legally responsible, upright, and competent in managing affairs is valid,” means that if the testator is Muslim, the executor must be a Muslim who is legally responsible—that is, an adult of sound mind—upright, meaning sound in religion and character, and competent in managing the matters entrusted to him under the will.

A non-Muslim’s appointment of a Muslim executor is valid all the more so, and a non-Muslim’s appointment of another non-Muslim executor is likewise valid. Thus, if a Jew appoints a Jew to carry out, after his death, what he has instructed, there is nothing wrong with that. These conditions apply to the executor only when the testator is Muslim.

His statement, “of any Muslim,” excludes the non-Muslim. Thus, a Muslim’s appointment of a non-Muslim executor is not valid, even if the non-Muslim is trustworthy, rational, or a friend of the testator, because such people have previously betrayed Allah; and if