Mufti Menk – Writing a Will

			Salam Alaikum, I was asked a question, is it true that writing a will is haram in Islam? Well, I can
tell you that the money that you have belongs to Allah, remember that. So he allows you temporary
ownership of it while you're alive, I can do whatever I want to do with my wealth on condition that
it is within the pleasure of Allah. And if ever, I have spent something wrong way, or I've earned it
through wrong means I need to seek the forgiveness of Allah and repair the damage. Okay? Now, the
minute you die, Allah says, your wealth will be divided the way we want it to be divided, right, but
we only give you a certain portion that we would allow you to give people whom we have not already
		

			decided, we'll be getting a portion. So if a lot decided that some people are going to get a portion
from your wealth, you cannot increase that you cannot decrease that. But if Allah did not speak
about certain categories, your friends, your you know, distant relatives, someone who's not in the
picture, or Muslim or non Muslim, whoever it may be, you want to give them something, you're allowed
within one third of your wealth, to write up a rasiya or a bequest. Some people call this a will,
right. So you write it up, up to one third of whatever you've left, so you say, I want so much to go
to so and so and so much to go to so and so. As for the following categories, you can never write
		

			for them, because Allah has already given them a share. If they are alive at the time of your death,
who are they, your son and your daughter, your father, your mother, your
		

			spouse, there goes, so the husband or the wife, father, mother, son or daughter, those categories,
you can never increase or decrease, Allah decides what they're going to get after you die if you're
alive. And when you're alive, you can give them whatever you wish, you can give your mom, your dad,
your relatives, your brothers, your sisters, etc, in the absence of a father and a son, and there is
no grandfather either, then the brothers and sisters will come into the picture.
		

			In fact, we should consult the scholars at that point. But the question today was, is it true that
writing a will is prohibited? Well, if you're living in a non Muslim country, you may have to write
a will to tell them that you want to split it in a specific way. So what we do at times is, we get
people to write a will to say that if I were to die, then such and such an organization should issue
a certificate as to the shares and the heirs of my estate, and it will be executed accordingly.
Right. So you executed accordingly. And what will happen when you die, they will get to that
particular organization or whoever it may be, and get a certificate from them, that these are the
		

			heirs and these are the shares and their goals. Now, not every country works that way. So if you're
living in a Muslim country, probably I'm guessing they would arrange that already. In most
countries, they would have a proper system where whatever Allah has said would work, I hope if it's
not that case, then you will still have to write up something. So when they speak of a will in a non
Muslim country, they're speaking about writing up something to make sure that the right share is go
to the right for people. If you as an air has gotten a share bigger than the Quran has given you,
it's up to you to give it back or to give it to the ones who deserve a portion or you know, you
		

			calculate who's supposed to get it and you give it to that particular person. And if you have got
your the right share and hamdulillah if you got less than that, then the person who's got more this
should be giving it to you, okay. Now, when it comes to the issue of a person who has written a
will, and they have included in that will people who already have a share, you cannot take more than
what Allah has given you. Because that's from Allah subhanho wa Taala. So, I hope this answers your
question. Is it true that writing wills is prohibited? Well, if you're living in a non Muslim
country, and that will is only going to make clear what a law once from you then there's nothing
		

			prohibited about it. You may have to actually do that in many countries. But if you're if you are
talking of the one third that you have a say regarding then you can write a bequest, some people
call it a will, that if I die then I want from the one third, this to happen a little bit to go to
charity, some to go to this person, that person maybe this organization that thing up to one third,
beyond that, you're not allowed to have a say
		

			Islam, your Islam and your belief already determines that your father's meaning your parents, your
children and your spouse would actually be the first in the line of those who are going to be
getting a share from whatever you've left behind. May Allah bless all of us are colloquially hada
sallallahu wasallam albaraka. Alana Bina Bynum.