is his full brother. In that case, do we say that the paternal uncle is to be given what was acknowledged in his favour, or not? The author says that he is not to be given it, on account of his status at the time of the acknowledgement, because at the time of the acknowledgement there was suspicion. If the paternal uncle remains the heir, is he to be given it or not? He is even less entitled to be given it, because the sick man made an acknowledgement in favour of an heir.
The point is that if a sick person makes an acknowledgement in favour of an heir, who then becomes a non-heir at the time of death, the acknowledgement is not valid. However, the author says: “His acknowledgement is not binding, though it is not void.” That is, it is not obligatory that he be given what was acknowledged in his favour, but the acknowledgement is not void. In other words, if the heirs approve it, it is permissible, and he is given it on the basis of the acknowledgement. Were we to say that it was void, his acknowledgement would not be valid even with the heirs’ approval. Hence, we must distinguish between saying that his acknowledgement is void and saying that it is not binding. If we say that it is not binding, it remains contingent upon the heirs’ approval: if they approve it, he is given it. But if we say that it is void, then it is invalid even if they approve it, because it is void.
His statement: “If he acknowledges something in favour of a non-heir, or gives him a gift, it is valid even if he becomes an heir at the time of death.” These are two cases:
The first: a person acknowledges something in favour of his brother while he has a son; then his son dies, and the brother becomes an heir. This acknowledgement is valid, and his brother is given what was acknowledged in his favour.
The second: if he gives him something while he is a non-heir, then at the time of death he becomes an heir. “Gives him” means that he makes him a gift; but the scholars call a gift made during a grave terminal illness an inter vivos gift. For example, this man falls ill with a terminal illness, so he speaks to his brother and says: “Take, my brother, these ten thousand riyals as a gift.” Then his son dies.