The Ruling on the Obligation of a Bequest for Every Muslim
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Is a bequest obligatory for every Muslim, even if he has no debt?
Answer:
O brothers, let us clarify this. We said that the obligatory bequest is to bequeath regarding his wealth and what is due from him, regarding his wealth in terms of rights and what is due from him in terms of rights. This is obligatory so that he does not cause harm. As for the bequest that is giving something of his wealth in charity after his death, this is recommended, not obligatory. And if it causes hardship for the heirs, and the heirs are poor, it is better that he does not bequeath, that he leaves the wealth for them and does not cause them hardship. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence the Shaykh
Is a bequest obligatory for every Muslim, even if he has no debt?
Answer:
O brothers, let us clarify this. We said that the obligatory bequest is to bequeath regarding his wealth and what is due from him, regarding his wealth in terms of rights and what is due from him in terms of rights. This is obligatory so that he does not cause harm. As for the bequest that is giving something of his wealth in charity after his death, this is recommended, not obligatory. And if it causes hardship for the heirs, and the heirs are poor, it is better that he does not bequeath, that he leaves the wealth for them and does not cause them hardship. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence the Shaykh
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 141/106 شرح زاد المستقنع/ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (24:50)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.