blood relative within the prohibited degrees of marriage; parents and children, however, are excluded. The bequest must therefore be shared by two or more persons.
If, in such a case, the testator leaves two paternal uncles and two maternal uncles, the bequest—according to Abū Ḥanīfah—goes only to the two paternal uncles. Should he leave one paternal uncle and two maternal uncles, the paternal uncle receives one-half and the two maternal uncles share the remaining half. Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad rule that the bequest belongs to everyone who traces his lineage to the testator’s most remote Muslim forefather.
If a man bequeaths to someone one-third of his silver coins or one-third of his sheep, and two-thirds of that asset perish while one-third remains—and that remainder falls within the estate’s one-third ceiling—the legatee takes everything that is left. By contrast, if he bequeaths one-third of his clothing and two-thirds of it are destroyed, leaving one-third intact, then even though the remainder is within the one-third ceiling the legatee is entitled only to one-third of the surviving clothes.
Should a legatee be left one thousand dirhams and the estate consist of both cash on hand and debts owed to the deceased, then if the thousand may be covered by one-third of the cash, it is paid at once. If the cash is insufficient, he first receives one-third of the cash on hand, and thereafter one-third of every debt that is collected until the full thousand has been paid.
A bequest may validly be made to an unborn child, and it is effective provided the child is born alive within less than six months of the date of the bequest.
If someone bequeaths a slave-girl to a man “except for what she is carrying,” both the bequest and the exception are valid.
When a slave-girl is bequeathed to a man, and—after the testator’s death but before the legatee has accepted—she gives birth and the legatee then accepts: if the combined value of the mother and child is within the estate’s one-third ceiling, they both go to the legatee. If their value exceeds that limit, then, according to Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad, the one-third is divided proportionately between them and the legatee takes his corresponding share of each. Abū Ḥanīfah says that the required amount is taken first from the mother; if anything remains, it is taken from the child.
It is permissible to bequeath the service of one’s slave or the occupancy of one’s house for a specified number of years—or even in perpetuity. If the full value of the slave fits within the one-third limit, the slave is handed over for service. If the estate contains no other property, the slave serves the heirs two days and the legatee one day. When the legatee dies, the arrangement reverts to the heirs; and if the legatee dies before the testator, the bequest is null and void.
If a person bequeaths to “the children of so-and-so,” the bequest is divided among them equally, male and female alike. If he bequeaths to “the heirs of so-and-so,” it is divided among them according to the inheritance rule—“to the male the share of two females.”
To bequeath one-third of an estate “to Zayd and ʿAmr,” and ʿAmr has already died, means the entire third goes to Zayd. But if the testator says, “One-third of my estate is to be divided between Zayd and ʿAmr,” and Zayd is dead, then ʿAmr receives only half of that third.
Finally, if a man bequeaths one-third of his estate to a legatee and subsequently acquires additional property, the legatee is entitled to one-third of whatever the testator owns at the time of death. Allah knows best.