A man with much wealth who reached old age, so his children took him to a nursing home; when he learned of it, he became angry with them and bequeathed all his wealth to charitable works. Will this be valid?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A man with much wealth who reached old age, so his children took him to a nursing home. When he learned that they had taken him to a nursing home without informing him that they were taking him there, he became angry with them and bequeathed all his wealth to charitable works?
The Shaykh : Is he sane but stingy?
The questioner : Yes, he is sane, but he is old.
The Shaykh : He is old, but is he sane in mind and body?
The questioner : Yes, he is sane in mind and body.
The Shaykh : It is valid.
The questioner : Is all the wealth valid?
The Shaykh : Yes, because this is not a bequest; this is an immediate endowment. However, if he had made it a bequest, it would not be valid except for one-third.
The questioner : Even if he was angry with his children, and they left him like this.
The Shaykh : Poor man, his wealth has exited his ownership. Now he cannot even reside in his house, unless he had excepted residing in his house, in which case he can reside. Note this, everyone: if a person endows something, it exits his ownership; he cannot dispose of it, nor reside in it, unless he excepted that he has its income during his lifetime, or that he has residence in it during his lifetime.
The questioner : He is still in the nursing home now.
The Shaykh : He remains until certainty comes to him.
The questioner : His house, from which his children are being removed?
The Shaykh : It is an endowment; as long as it is an endowment, it is an endowment.
The questioner : Are they being removed from it?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : If the testator bequeaths more than one-third, it is known that only one-third of the bequest is valid. But does he sin by bequeathing more than one-third, even though only one-third is valid?
The Shaykh : What do you say, everyone? Has it not passed us? You filled us with hadith, O Muhammad ibn Wasil, and it passed us in jurisprudence recently.
It is forbidden to bequeath more than one-third, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prevented Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas from doing so until he reached one-third, and he said:.
The Shaykh : Is he sane but stingy?
The questioner : Yes, he is sane, but he is old.
The Shaykh : He is old, but is he sane in mind and body?
The questioner : Yes, he is sane in mind and body.
The Shaykh : It is valid.
The questioner : Is all the wealth valid?
The Shaykh : Yes, because this is not a bequest; this is an immediate endowment. However, if he had made it a bequest, it would not be valid except for one-third.
The questioner : Even if he was angry with his children, and they left him like this.
The Shaykh : Poor man, his wealth has exited his ownership. Now he cannot even reside in his house, unless he had excepted residing in his house, in which case he can reside. Note this, everyone: if a person endows something, it exits his ownership; he cannot dispose of it, nor reside in it, unless he excepted that he has its income during his lifetime, or that he has residence in it during his lifetime.
The questioner : He is still in the nursing home now.
The Shaykh : He remains until certainty comes to him.
The questioner : His house, from which his children are being removed?
The Shaykh : It is an endowment; as long as it is an endowment, it is an endowment.
The questioner : Are they being removed from it?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : If the testator bequeaths more than one-third, it is known that only one-third of the bequest is valid. But does he sin by bequeathing more than one-third, even though only one-third is valid?
The Shaykh : What do you say, everyone? Has it not passed us? You filled us with hadith, O Muhammad ibn Wasil, and it passed us in jurisprudence recently.
It is forbidden to bequeath more than one-third, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prevented Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas from doing so until he reached one-third, and he said: