As for a person whose illness is chronic yet does not confine him to bed, any gifts he makes are valid with respect to his entire estate, exactly like the donations of a healthy individual, because such an illness is not feared to hasten death; he is treated like an elderly man. However, if someone with a chronic illness becomes bedridden, he is regarded as a patient in mortal danger: his bequests (waṣiyya) are effective only within one third of his property and only for non-heirs—unless the heirs ratify them after his death—because a bedridden patient is in jeopardy of dying.

The one-third limit is calculated at the time of death, for that is when bequests become obligatory and when their beneficiaries acquire the right to them. Accordingly, both bequests and gifts are executed out of that one third. If the third proves insufficient, the gifts are given priority over the bequests, because the gifts were already binding upon the patient; they therefore take precedence, just as a gift made by a healthy person has priority over his bequest.

The jurists—may Allah have mercy on them—have explained that a bequest differs from a gift in four respects:

1. With a bequest, early and late recipients stand on an equal footing, because it is a post-mortem transfer that takes effect all at once. A gift, by contrast, follows a first-come-first-served rule, since it becomes immediately binding in favor of each recipient as it is delivered.

2. The donor may not retract a gift once the recipient has taken possession of it, whereas a testator may revoke his bequest, for it does not become obligatory until his death.

3. A gift requires the recipient’s acceptance at the moment it is offered, because ownership passes immediately. In a bequest, however, ownership is transferred after death, so acceptance is considered only when the bequest actually exists; any acceptance voiced before death has no legal effect.

4. Title to the gifted property is established as soon as the gift is accepted, while a bequest confers no ownership before death, since it is intended to take effect afterward and cannot precede that moment.