“But whoever knows of unfairness or sin on the part of a testator and brings about reconciliation between them, there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (182)

“O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become mindful of Allah.” (183)

Regarding His saying, “But whoever knows”: that is, whoever knows, as in His saying: “If you fear that they will not uphold the limits set by Allah” (al-Baqarah 2:229)—that is, if you know.

“On the part of a testator”: Hamzah, al-Kisa’i, Abu Bakr, and Ya‘qub read it as min waṣṣin, with a fathah on the waw and a doubled ṣād, as in His saying: “what He enjoined upon Noah” (al-Shura 42:13), and, “We have enjoined upon man” (al-‘Ankabut 29:8). The others read it as min mūṣin, with an unvocalized waw and an undoubled ṣād, as in His saying: “Allah instructs you concerning your children” (al-Nisa’ 4:11), and, “after any bequest he may have made or debt” (al-Nisa’ 4:12).

“Unfairness”: that is, injustice and deviation from what is right. Janf means inclination. “Or sin”: that is, wrongdoing. Al-Suddi, ‘Ikrimah, and al-Rabi‘ said: unfairness is an unintentional error, whereas sin is deliberate.

“And brings about reconciliation between them, there is no sin upon him.” Scholars differed concerning the meaning of this verse. Mujahid said: Its meaning is that when a person attends a sick man as he makes a bequest and sees him incline toward injustice—whether through inadequacy, excess, or placing the bequest where it does not belong—there is no blame upon the person attending him if he directs him to justice and forbids him from unfairness, taking into consideration both the beneficiaries of the bequest and the heirs.

Others said: It means that if the deceased erred in his bequest or deliberately acted unjustly, there is no blame upon his guardian, executor, or the ruler responsible for the Muslims’ affairs if, after his death, he rectifies matters between his heirs and those entitled to the bequest, restoring the bequest to fairness and what is right. Thus, “there is no sin upon him” means that there is no blame upon him. “Indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

Tawus said: Unfairness includes a disguised bequest: for example, when a man bequeaths to his son’s children while intending his son; or to his daughter’s child, while intending his daughter; or to his daughter’s husband, while intending his daughter.

Al-Kalbi said: After the revelation of His saying, “And whoever alters it after hearing it”—the verse—guardians and executors would carry out the deceased’s bequest even if it consumed the entire estate and left nothing for the heirs. Then His saying, “But whoever knows of unfairness on the part of a testator”—the verse—abrogated this.

Ibn Zayd said: Thus, the testator was no longer able to make a bequest for his parents and close relatives as Allah Most High had commanded, nor was the person concerned able to rectify it; so Allah Most High took this authority away from them and made the prescribed shares obligatory.

It is narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A man or a woman may act in obedience to Allah for sixty years, then