Chapter: The Legatee

A bequest is valid in favor of anyone who can legally acquire property—even an apostate, an enemy combatant, or one who himself cannot yet own, such as an unborn fetus1 or an animal; in the latter case the funds are spent on its fodder2.

A bequest is likewise valid to mosques, bridges, and similar public utilities, as well as “to Allah and His Messenger,” in which case the money is directed to public interests.

If the testator stipulates that one-third of his estate be burned, the bequest stands, but the amount is used instead for burning incense in the Kaʿbah and lighting mosques. If he directs that it be buried, it is diverted to shrouding the dead; and if he orders that it be thrown into water, it is allocated to building ships for jihad.

A bequest is not valid for a church, a fire-temple, copies of the Torah or Gospel, an angel, a deceased person, or a jinn, nor for an unidentified beneficiary such as “one of these two.”

Thus, if he bequeaths3 one-third of his estate jointly to an eligible and an ineligible recipient, the entire share goes to the eligible one. However, if he bequeaths4 to both a living and a dead person, the living beneficiary receives only one-half.