55. Wills and Testaments

٥٥۔ كتاب الوصايا

55.3 To will one-third of one's property

٥٥۔٣ باب الْوَصِيَّةِ بِالثُّلُثِ

[Machine] And Al-Hasan said, "It is not permissible for a non-Muslim to inherit more than one-third." And Allah the Almighty said, "And judge between them by what Allah has revealed."

وَقَالَ الْحَسَنُ لاَ يَجُوزُ لِلذِّمِّيِّ وَصِيَّةٌ إِلاَّ الثُّلُثُ. وَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: {وَأَنِ احْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ}.

bukhari:2743Qutaybah b. Saʿīd > Sufyān > Hishām b. ʿUrwah from his father > Ibn ʿAbbās > Law Ghaḍ al-Nās > al-Rubʿ Lʾan

I recommend that people reduce the proportion of what they bequeath by will to the fourth (of the whole legacy), for Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "One-third, yet even one third is too much."  

البخاري:٢٧٤٣حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ؓ قَالَ

لَوْ غَضَّ النَّاسُ إِلَى الرُّبْعِ لأَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ: «الثُّلُثُ، وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِيرٌ۔» أَوْ «كَبِيرٌ۔»  

bukhari:2744Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm > Zakariyyāʾ b. ʿAdī > Marwān > Hāshim b. Hāshim > ʿĀmir b. Saʿd from his father

I fell sick and the Prophet ﷺ paid me a visit. I said to him, "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! I invoke Allah that He may not let me expire in the land whence I migrated (i.e. Mecca)." He said, "May Allah give you health and let the people benefit by you." I said, "I want to will my property, and I have only one daughter and I want to will half of my property (to be given in charity)." He said," Half is too much." I said, "Then I will one third." He said, "One-third, yet even one-third is too much." (The narrator added, "So the people started to will one third of their property and that was Permitted for them.")  

البخاري:٢٧٤٤حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحِيمِ حَدَّثَنَا زَكَرِيَّاءُ بْنُ عَدِيٍّ حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ عَنْ هَاشِمِ بْنِ هَاشِمٍ عَنْ عَامِرِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ ؓ قَالَ

مَرِضْتُ فَعَادَنِي النَّبِيُّ ﷺ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ادْعُ اللَّهَ أَنْ لاَ يَرُدَّنِي عَلَى عَقِبِي قَالَ لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ يَرْفَعُكَ وَيَنْفَعُ بِكَ نَاسًا قُلْتُ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُوصِيَ وَإِنَّمَا لِي ابْنَةٌ قُلْتُ أُوصِي بِالنِّصْفِ قَالَ النِّصْفُ كَثِيرٌ قُلْتُ فَالثُّلُثِ قَالَ الثُّلُثُ وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِيرٌ أَوْ كَبِيرٌ قَالَ فَأَوْصَى النَّاسُ بِالثُّلُثِ وَجَازَ ذَلِكَ لَهُمْ