Al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhidāt - Ibn Rush al-Jadd - (3/126)

Section

A sick person’s gifts, charitable donations, and grants remain in abeyance. If he dies during that illness, they are charged against one-third of his estate; if he recovers, they are charged against his property as a whole. The same applies to manumission, unless he has secure assets, in which case his act of manumission takes immediate effect. The recipient of a gift or charitable donation may also take possession of it during the donor’s illness, before his death, according to one of Mālik’s two positions on taking secure assets into account in such cases.

The jurists of the major centres hold that a sick person’s gifts and charitable donations are charged against one-third of his estate. Dāwūd, however, said that they are charged against his property as a whole, and that all his dispositions are treated like those of a healthy person.

The evidence supporting the position of Mālik and those who followed him is the established report that “a man freed six slaves of his at the time of his death, whereupon the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—drew lots and freed one-third of them.” In this respect, there is no distinction between manumission and other dispositions, such as gifts and charitable donations.

There is also the report that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Allah has granted you one-third of your wealth at the time of your death as an opportunity to increase your good deeds.” He thus stated that a person has only one-third at his disposal at death, indicating that dispositions exceeding this are prohibited.

Furthermore, the established legal principles indicate that the onset of a cause of death is treated as death itself. This is shown by the fact that, if he were to free a slave, the manumission would be charged against one-third of his estate; and if he were to give something to an heir, the gift would not be valid, since he may not make a bequest to that heir. Since this is so, and he may not bequeath more than one-third to take effect after his death, he likewise may not give away more than one-third during his illness.

فصل وهبات المريض وصدقاته وأعطياته موقوفة، فإن مات في مرضه ذلك كانت من الثلث، وإن صح فمن رأس المال. وكذلك العتق إلا أن تكون له أموال مأمونة فينفذ عتقه معجلا، ويكون للموهوب له أو المتصدق عليه قبض ما وهب له أو تصدق به عليه في مرض الواهب أو المتصدق قبل موته على أحد قولي مالك في مراعاة المال المأمون في ذلك. وهذا مذهب فقهاء الأمصار أن هبات المريض وصدقاته من الثلث. وقال داود: هي من رأس المال، وتصرفه كله كتصرف الصحيح. والدليل على صحة قول مالك ومن تابعه ما ثبت أن «رجلا أعتق ستة أعبد له عند موته فأسهم رسول الله ﷺ فأعتق ثلثهم». ولا فرق بين العتق وغيره من الهبة والصدقة في هذا. وما روي أيضا أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: «إن الله أعطاكم ثلث أموالكم عند موتكم زيادة في أعمالكم» فأخبر أن الرجل ليس له عند الموت إلا الثلث فدل على منع ما زاد عليه، ولأن الأصول دالة على أن حضور سبب الموت بمنزلة حضور الموت بعينه، بدليل أنه لو أعتق لكان من الثلث، ولو وهب لوارثه شيئا لم يجز ذلك، إذ لا يجوز أن يوصي له. وإذا كان كذلك ثم لم يجز أن يوصي بعد الموت بأكثر من الثلث، كذلك لا يجوز له أن يهب في المرض أكثر من الثلث. .