Chapter: Legal Rulings on Bequests

Lexically, waṣiyya (bequest) derives from the verb waṣaytu al-shayʾ, meaning “I joined one thing to another.” The term was chosen because a bequest connects what a person does during his lifetime with what will follow after his death: through it, the testator extends a lawful act of disposal made while alive so that it continues once he has passed away.

In the juristic sense, a waṣiyya is an instruction that a certain disposition be executed after death, or, in other words, a gratuitous transfer of property that takes effect post-mortem.

The legitimacy of bequests is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and the unanimous agreement of the scholars.

Allah the Exalted says, “Prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you, if he leaves any wealth, is that he make a bequest to parents and near relatives with due fairness; this is an obligation upon the God-fearing” (Q. 2:180).

He also says, “...after any bequest he may have made” (Q. 4:11).

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has granted you the charity of disposing of one third of your wealth at the time of your death as an increase in your good deeds.”

The scholars are unanimous in affirming that a bequest is permissible.

A bequest may at times be obligatory and at other times merely recommended: