2. Sūrat al-Baqarah

٢۔ سُورَةُ البَقَرَة

2.74 Commandment to make a living will and testament.

٢۔٧٤ مقطع في سُورَةُ البَقَرَة

quran:2:180

Prescribed for you when death approaches ˹any˺ one of you if he leaves wealth ˹is that he should make˺ a bequest for the parents and near relatives according to what is acceptable - a duty upon the righteous.  

Prescribed, made obligatory, for you, when any of you is approached by death, that is, ˹by˺ its causes, and leaves behind some good, material possessions, is to make testament (al-wasiyyatu is in the nominative because of kutiba, and is semantically connected to the particle idhā, ‘when’, if the latter is adverbial; but if this latter is conditional, then it ˹al-wasiyyatu˺ indicates the response; the response to the ˹conditional˺ particle in, ‘if’, is, in other words, ˹implied to be˺ fa’l-yūsi, ‘let him make testament’); in favour of his parents and kinsmen honourably, that is justly, not giving more than the allotted share of a third, nor preferring the richer person — an obligation (haqqan here emphasises the import of what has preceded) on those that fear, God (this verse has been abrogated by the ‘inheritance’ verse ˹āyat al-mīrāth, see Q. 4:11˺ and by the hadīth: ‘Do not make testament for one ˹already˺ inheriting’, as reported by al-Tirmidhī).
القرآن:٢:١٨٠

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ  

{كتب} فرض {عليكم إذا حضر أحدكم الموت} أي أسبابه {إن ترك خيرا} مالا {الوصية} مرفوع بكتب ومتعلق بإذا إن كانت ظرفية ودال على جوابها إن كانت شرطية وجواب إن أي فليوص {للوالدين والأقربين بالمعروف} بالعدل بأن لا يزيد على الثلث ولا يفضل الغني {حقا} مصدر مؤكد لمضمون الجملة قبله {على المتقين} الله وهذا منسوخ بآية الميراث وبحديث: (لا وصية لوارث رواه الترمذي).
quran:2:181

Then whoever alters the bequest after he has heard it - the sin is only upon those who have altered it. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.  

Then if anyone, whether a witness or a trustee, changes it, that is, the testament, after hearing it, and knowing it, the sin, resulting from the changed testament, shall rest upon those who change it (here the explicit subject stands in place of the implicit one); surely God is Hearing, of the testator’s words, Knowing, of the deeds of the trustee, requiting ˹each˺ accordingly.
القرآن:٢:١٨١

فَمَنْ بَدَّلَهُ بَعْدَ مَا سَمِعَهُ فَإِنَّمَا إِثْمُهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يُبَدِّلُونَهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ  

{فمن بدَّله} أي الإيصاء من شاهد ووصي {بعد ما سمعه} علمه {فإنما إثمه} أي الإيصاء المبدل {على الذين يبدلونه} فيه إقامة الظاهر مقام المضمر {إن الله سميع} لقول الموصي {عليم} بفعل الوصي فمجاز عليه.
quran:2:182

But if one fears from the bequeather ˹some˺ error or sin and corrects that which is between them, there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.  

But if any one fears injustice, an error, in straying from what is right, or sin, because he has purposely increased the share of a third or specified a rich individual, from one making testament (read mūsī or muwassī), and so makes things right between them, the testator and the trustee, by commanding that justice be done, then no sin shall be upon him, with regard to this matter; surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.
القرآن:٢:١٨٢

فَمَنْ خَافَ مِنْ مُوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا فَأَصْلَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ  

{فمن خاف من موص} مخففا ومثقلا {جنفا} ميلا عن الحق خطأ {أو إثما} بأن تعمَّد ذلك بالزيادة على الثلث أو تخصيص غني مثلا {فأصلح بينهم} بين الموصي والموصى له بالأمر بالعدل {فلا إثم عليه} في ذلك {إن الله غفور رحيم}.