If a man declares, “My slave is to serve my son So-and-so, because he is still young, for the number of years I have specified; thereafter he is free,” then all the heirs have equal right to the slave’s service for those years. Imam Ahmad records this ruling in his Musnad. When the term ends, the slave is emancipated, and the cost of his manumission is charged to one-third of the deceased’s estate.
A person may not make a bequest that raises the suspicion that he actually intends it for his own son; if the amount is large, such suspicion is strong, and the bequest is rejected. Likewise, it is unlawful for anyone to bequeath to his daughter’s son while really aiming to benefit his daughter, or to engage in any similar stratagem. Should he have had the daughter in mind, Allah will question him about it; but if no deceptive intent (tawlīj) is evident, the bequest stands.
Nor may a dying person give a sale price that favors an heir. If he does, the sale is void. Should the heir return the preferential portion, the jurists of the Mālikī school differ: some validate the sale, others cancel it.
If someone bequeaths a sum “for one of the paths of Allah” but then adds the proviso, “unless the heirs allow it to go to such-and-such an heir,” the rule is: if the heirs agree, that heir may take it; if they refuse, it remains directed to that charitable avenue. Similarly, if he expressly bequeaths something to an heir yet stipulates, “Should the other heirs withhold their consent, it shall go to the poor or to another form of charity,” and the heirs do in fact withhold consent, the bequest is annulled—it returns to the estate and does not pass to the poor or to the specified charity. But if they approve it on behalf of the heir, it is valid. This is the report of Ibn Abī Uways from Mālik. Ibn al-Qāsim, however, transmitted that the bequest is void in every case, whether or not the heirs consent, and among Mālik’s followers the matter is unsettled and disputed. The summary of the school is what I have just related to you, whereas the non-Mālikīs deem the bequest valid in both situations.
If, while in sound health, a man seeks his heirs’ permission to bequeath to one of them or to dispose of more than one-third of his estate, and they consent, their consent is not binding upon them. If he seeks their permission while ill, however, their approval becomes binding. This is the basic ruling set down in the Muwattaʾ. It is also related that if, during his final illness, he asks their leave in order to favor a particular heir—such as a young child—or to dispose of whatever he wishes to that heir, and they agree