Mishkat al-Masabih

Ibn Mas'ud said about a case where there was a grandmother and her son that she was the first grandmother to whom God’s Messenger gave a sixth which was not due to her when she had a son who was still alive. Tirmidhi and Darimi transmitted it, but Tirmidhi declared it to be a weak tradition.

Ad-Dahhak b. Sufyan said that God’s Messenger wrote to him telling him to include the wife of Ashyam ad-Dibabi among the heirs to the blood-wit paid for her husband. Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a hasan sahih tradition.

Tamim ad-Dari said he asked God’s Messenger what the sunna was about a polytheist who accepts Islam by the advice and persuasion of a Muslim, and he replied that he was the nearest to him in life and in death. Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that a man died leaving no heir but a youth whom he had emancipated, and that when the Prophet asked whether he had any heir and was told that he had none but a youth of his whom he had emancipated, he assigned his estate to him. Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said that his grandfather reported the Prophet as saying, ‘‘He who has the right to inherit property inherits the property of an emancipated slave.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying that this is a tradition whose isnad is not strong.

‘Abdallah b. ‘Umar reported God’s Messenger as saying, “An estate which was divided in the pre-Islamic period following the division in force then, but any estate in Islamic times must follow the division appointed by Islam.” Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Muhammad b. Abu Bakr b. Hazm said he often heard his father tell that ‘Umar b. al-Khattab used to say, “It is astonishing that one may inherit from a paternal aunt but that she does not inherit.” Malik transmitted it.

‘Umar said, “Learn the rules of inheritance,” Ibn Mas'ud adding, “of divorce and of the pilgrimage,” and both saying, “for it pertains to your religion.” Darimi transmitted it.

Wills. Ibn ‘Umar reported God’s Messenger as saying, “It is the duty of a Muslim man who has something which is to be given as a bequest not to have it for two nights without having his will written regarding it.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

During an illness which brought me near to death in the year of the Conquest God’s Messenger came to visit me and I said, “Messenger of God, I have a large amount of property and my daughter is my only heir. Shall I will away all my property ?” He replied, ‘No” I suggested two-thirds, but he objected, then a half, but he still objected. When I suggested a third he replied, “You may will away a third, but that is a lot*. To leave your heirs rich is better than to leave them poor and begging from people. You will not spend anything, seeking thereby to please God, without being rewarded for it, even the mouthful you give your wife.” *While this tradition tells that the Prophet gave permission for a man to will away a third of his estate to some person or purpose other than the heirs, it indicates that be thought it would be better not to will away so much. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

God’s Messenger visited me when I was ill and asked whether I had made my will. I replied that I had. He asked how much I had willed and when I told him I had willed all my property away to be devoted to God’s path he asked how much I had left my children. I replied that they were rich and prosperous, whereupon he told me to will away a tenth ; but I kept on telling him it was too little till he finally said, “Will away a third, but a third is a lot.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.

“The child is attributed to the mother’s husband, but the adulterer gets nothing, and their reckoning is in God’s hands.”

It is related in munqati’ form on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that the Prophet said, “No legacy is to be left to an heir unless the other heirs are agreeable.” This is the wording in al-Masabih, but in Daraqutni’s version he said, “A legacy to an heir is not allowable unless the other heirs are agreeable.”

“ A man and a woman act in obedience to God for sixty years then when they are about to die they cause injury by their will, so they must go to hell.” Then Abu Huraira recited, “After a legacy which you bequeathe or a debt, causing no injury ... that will be the mighty success”(Al-Qur’an 4:12). Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Jabir reported God’s Messenger as saying, “He who dies leaving a will has died following a path and a sunna, he has died piously and testifying to the true faith, and he has died with his sins forgiven.” Ibn Majah transmitted it.

‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said his grandfather told that al-‘As b. Wa’il left in his will that a hundred slaves should be emancipated on his behalf. His son Hisham emancipated fifty slaves and his son ‘Amr intended to emancipate the remaining fifty on his behalf, but decided first to ask God’s Messenger. He therefore went to the Prophet and said, “Messenger of God, my father left in his will that a hundred slaves should be emancipated on his behalf and Hisham has emancipated fifty on his behalf and fifty remain. Shall I emancipate them on his behalf?” God's Messenger replied, “Had he been a Muslim and you had emancipated slaves on his behalf, or given sadaqa on his behalf, or performed the pilgrimage on his behalf, that would have reached him.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Anas reported God’s Messenger as saying, “If anyone deprives an heir of his inheritance, God will deprive him of his inheritance in paradise on the day of resurrection.” Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Baihaqi transmitted it in Shu'ab al-lman on the authority of Abu Huraira.