to a specified or unspecified creditor, or use it to maintain his ties of kinship, or the like, then this is a stipulation requiring a disposition of the property that serves a definite purpose. The same applies to obligatory and voluntary charitable giving.

As for distinguishing emancipation from other dispositions on the grounds of its merit, which the Lawgiver seeks to promote, this is a weak argument. Some forms of charitable giving are superior to emancipation. Supporting a needy relative is better than emancipation, as Ahmad explicitly stated. For it is reported:

“Maymūna, the Prophet’s wife (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), emancipated a slave woman of hers. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Had you given her to your maternal uncles, it would have been better for you.’”

Hence, if a deceased person has relatives who do not inherit, a bequest to them is preferable to a bequest for emancipation. I know of no disagreement on this point. The only disagreement I know of concerns whether making a bequest to them is obligatory. There are two reports from Ahmad on this: according to the first, it is obligatory, as held by a group of earlier and later scholars; according to the second, it is not obligatory, as held by the other three leading jurists and others.

If someone makes a bequest to others while excluding these relatives, should the bequest be redirected to his relatives rather than the designated beneficiary? Or should the beneficiary receive one-third of it and his relatives two-thirds, just as an estate is divided between the heirs and the beneficiary of a bequest? Both views are reported from Ahmad, although the prevailing view among most of his followers is that the bequest takes effect.

Thus, if some forms of charitable giving are superior to emancipation, it is unsound to justify this distinction by claiming that emancipation alone possesses greater merit. Moreover, the act required of the purchaser may be of greater merit, as when he owes Allah an obligation in the form of zakat, an expiation, or a vow, or owes a debt to another person, and stipulates that the purchaser