Zād al-Mustaqniʿ - Al-Hajjawi - (147)

Chapter on Bequests Stated in Shares and Fractions

If a testator stipulates, “Give the legatee an amount equal to the share of a specific heir,” the beneficiary is awarded a portion identical to that heir’s share, which is then added to the estate’s reckoning. Thus, should he say, “the like of my son’s share” while he has two sons, the legatee receives one-third of the estate; if the sons are three, he receives one-quarter; and if, together with those three sons, there is also a daughter, the legatee receives two-ninths.1

When the wording is, “the like of the share of one of my heirs,” without naming that heir, the beneficiary takes the same amount as the heir who has the smallest share. Hence, with a son and a daughter, the legatee receives one-quarter, and with a wife and a son, he receives one-ninth.

If the bequest reads, “one سهم (share) of my estate,” the beneficiary is entitled to one-sixth.2

But if the will merely says, “something,” “a part,” or “a portion,” the heirs may give the legatee whatever amount they choose.

(1) Ibn Maniʿ notes a manuscript that reads: “fa-in kana maʿahu qala” (“if he already has it, he says”); this version is considered more accurate than the text we have adopted. (2) In manuscript B the wording is “al-sudus” (one-sixth), while manuscript C omits the phrase “fa lahu” (“then it is his”).

باب الوصية بالأنصباء والأجزاء إذا أوصى بمثل نصيب وارث معين فله مثل نصيبه مضمونا إلى المسألة فإذا أوصى بمثل نصيب ابنه وله ابنان فله الثلث وإن كانوا ثلاثة فله الربع وإن كان معهم١ بنت فله التسعان. وإن أوصى له بمثل نصيب أحد ورثته ولم يبين كان له مثل ما لأقلهم نصيبا "فمع ابن وبنت ربع ومع زوجة وابن تسع" وبسهم من ماله فله سدس٢ وبشيء أو جزء أو حظ أعطاه الوارث ما شاء.

١ أشار ابن مانع إلى نسخة بلفظ: فإن كان معه قال: وهي مصححة عما أثبتنا. ٢ في "ب": السدس، وسقط من "ج": فله.