Etiquette of Making a Will (Al-Wasiyyah) in the Quran & Sunnah
Etiquette of Making a Will (Al-Wasiyyah) in the Quran & Sunnah
Making a will in Islam (al-wasiyyah): writing it before two nights pass, the one-third limit that protects the heirs, and witnessed bequests, from the Quran and authentic Sunnah.
Part 1: The Will in the Light of the Quran
1. The will is prescribed when death approaches.
Allah says:
كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ إِن تَرَكَ خَيْرًا ٱلْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ
It is enjoined upon you, when death approaches any one of you and he leaves some wealth, that he must bequeath for the parents and the nearest of kin in the approved manner, being an obligation on the God-fearing. (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:180)
“Prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you — if he leaves wealth — is the will: for parents and near relatives, in a reasonable manner; a duty upon the God-fearing.” The final settling of rights is itself an act of taqwa.
2. Two just witnesses when the will is made at death.
Allah says:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ شَهَـٰدَةُ بَيْنِكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ حِينَ ٱلْوَصِيَّةِ ٱثْنَانِ ذَوَا عَدْلٍ مِّنكُمْ أَوْ ءَاخَرَانِ مِنْ غَيْرِكُمْ إِنْ أَنتُمْ ضَرَبْتُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَأَصَـٰبَتْكُم مُّصِيبَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۚ تَحْبِسُونَهُمَا مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَيُقْسِمَانِ بِٱللَّهِ إِنِ ٱرْتَبْتُمْ لَا نَشْتَرِى بِهِۦ ثَمَنًا وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَىٰ ۙ وَلَا نَكْتُمُ شَهَـٰدَةَ ٱللَّهِ إِنَّآ إِذًا لَّمِنَ ٱلْـَٔاثِمِينَ
O you who believe, when death draws near one of you, that is, at the time of making a will, the evidence (recognized) between you shall be of two witnesses from among you, or of two others not from you, if you are travelling on the earth and the trauma of death visits you. (Then) you shall detain them after the prayer, if you have some doubt, and they shall swear by Allah, “We shall not take a price for it, even if there be a relative; and we shall not conceal the evidence (as due) of Allah, otherwise we should certainly be among the sinners.” (Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:106)
The Quran itself arranges the witnessing of the deathbed will — two just men from among you, or two others if death strikes on a journey. The last document of a life is guarded like its first deeds.
Part 2: The Will in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ
1. Do not let two nights pass without your will written.
“It is not permissible for any Muslim who has something to will, to spend two nights without his will being written and kept with him.”
Lesson: The will is not written on the deathbed; it sleeps written beside the healthy man, ready before the need announces itself.
2. Ibn ‘Umar never spent a night without it after hearing this.
Ibn ‘Umar said: “I did not spend a single night since I heard this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ without my will being with me.”
Lesson: The Companions’ adab with a command was to build the habit the same night they heard it.
3. The bequest is capped at one third — “and a third is much.”
When Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, ill in Makkah, wished to will away all or most of his wealth, the Prophet ﷺ limited him: “A third — and a third is much. That you leave your heirs wealthy is better than that you leave them poor, begging from people.” And Ibn ‘Abbas later wished aloud that people would reduce the third even to a fourth.
Lesson: Generosity at death stops where the heirs’ rights begin; the Shariah protects the living from the dying man’s zeal.
Adab No. 73 — all evidences for this entry, taken from the DeenHub Global library. Open any link to read the original hadith or ayah in full.
- Part 1, Point 1: Surah Al-Baqarah (2), Ayah 180
- Part 1, Point 2: Surah Al-Ma'idah (5), Ayah 106
- Part 2, Point 1: Sahih al-Bukhari 2738 (Sahih)
- Part 2, Point 2: Sahih al-Bukhari 2738 (Sahih)
- Part 2, Point 3: Sahih Muslim 1629 (Sahih)