Q: All praise be to Allah Alone and peace and blessings of Allah be upon the seal of all the prophets. The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' have read the letter (Part No. 16; Page No. 278) sent by Sulayman ibn Abdullah ibn Mihanna, the head of the high court in
Riyadh
to the Chairman of the Committee. This letter that bears no. 4699 was sent to the Committee through the General Secretary of the Council of Senior Scholars on 8/8/1418 A.H. This letter contains the question sent by Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Jumu`ah the legal guardian of the heirs of his father and the one who is responsible for executing his father's bequest. The questioner says that his father made two bequests and he wants to know which one he should follow. The text of the first bequest reads:All praise be to Allah Alone and peace and blessings of Allah be upon the seal of all the prophets.I am Abdul-Rahman ibn Fahd Al-`Abd Allah the public notary of
Riyadh.
Muhammad ibn Sulayman ibn Jumu`ah Al-Jumu`ah whose identity card is 2984/671 came to me on 6/19/1385 A.H. while he was legally competent. He testified that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, 'Eisa (Jesus) is the servant and messenger of Allah, His word that He communicated to
Maryam
and His Spirit, paradise is a fact, hellfire is a fact, the Hour will undoubtedly come, and Allah will resurrect all those who died. He said: "I recommend myself and my offspring to fear Allah and to be obedient to Him and to follow what was brought by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). I recommend them to reconcile between Muslims, to perform Salah (Prayer) and to only die as believers. I bequeath the ground floor of my villa in (Part No. 16; Page No. 279)
Riyadh,
the district of Al-Khalijiyah owned by the title no. 408/2 on 6/18/1404 A.H. that was issued by the notary public of
Riyadh
to be a residence for my son, Abdul-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu'ah and his wife, Haya bint Bigad Mirikhan Al-Harbi and those who are in need of residence from my offspring whether males or females. The first floor should be rented. The revenue of this rent should be used for buying two Ud-hiyahs (sacrificial animal offered by non-pilgrims). The first Ud-hiyah should be slaughtered on behalf of my father and my mother, Shayma' bint `Aly Al-Ghufayly. The second Ud-hiyah should be done on my behalf. Moreover, they should also prepare a meal for breaking the fast during the month of Ramadan as much as possible. Then the rest of the revenue from renting this floor can be divided among the heirs. The executor of this bequest is my son, Sulayman ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu`ah. If he dies, the next executor will be `Aly ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu`ah. The public notary said that he bequeathed these things according to his own free will. This bequest was witnessed by Salman ibn `Aly ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu`ah and `Aly ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu'ah whose identities were registered in this bequest. The witnesses have signed this document after it was read to them. Therefore, we have registered it on 8/1/1414 A.H. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, Companions and those who followed their example until the Day of Judgment.The second bequest was as follows:All praise be to Allah Alone and peace and blessings of Allah be upon the seal of all the prophets. (Part No. 16; Page No. 280) I am Abdul-Rahman ibn Fahd Al-`Abd Allah the public notary of
Riyadh.
Muhammad ibn Sulayman ibn Jumu`ah Al-Jumu`ah whose identity card is 2984 came to me on 6/19/1385 A.H while he was legally competent. He testified that there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, 'Eisa (Jesus) is the servant and messenger of Allah and His word that He communicated to
Maryam
and His Spirit, paradise is a fact, hellfire is a fact, the Hour will undoubtedly come and that Allah will resurrect all those who died. He said: "I recommend myself and my offspring to fear Allah and to be obedient to Him and to follow what was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). I recommend them to reconcile between Muslims, to perform Salah (Prayer) and to only die as believers." He also said: "I bequeath one third of my property to be confined to slaughtering one Ud-hiyah on my behalf and on behalf of my father, Sulayman ibn Jumu'ah and my mother, Shayma' bint `Aly Al-Ghufayly. This should be done forever as much as possible. The remaining revenue of this one third should be spent in charitable deeds according to the viewpoint of the executor. The executor of this bequest will be my son, Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu`ah. After his death, the next executor will be my son Sulayman. The executor should appoint the one who will succeed him in executing the bequest. The executor in this bequest should fear, obey and be mindful of Allah (Exalted be He) in executing this bequest. He should do his best to do all that brings about benefit for the testator." This person bequeathed this willingly in the presence and testimony of `Aly ibn Sulayman ibn Jumu`ah Al-Jumu'ah whose identity card is 43981 issued in
Riyadh
and (Part No. 16; Page No. 281) Sulayman ibn `Aly ibn Sulayman Al-Jumu'ah whose identity card is 111044 issued in
Riyadh
on 2/12/1393 A.H. After reading this document to the witnesses, they signed this document. Therefore, we registered it on 7/2/1417 A.H. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family, Companions and those who followed their example until the Day of Judgment.
A: After studying the question, the Committee replied:
"You should follow the last bequest issued by the testator because the
most recent bequest abrogates and nullifies the earlier one. It proves that the testator nullified the first bequest for the sake of the second one. Moreover, we can not reconcile the two bequests because he did not determine that the first one should be carried out within one third of his property. Therefore, the executor should work according to the second bequest. He should count one third of the property of the testator and spend its revenue according to the things that were determined by the testator. This third should be counted after paying any obligatory payments like paying debts, performing obligatory Hajj if Hajj was incumbent upon him and he did not perform it, Zakah, a vow, an expatiation and the like. (Part No. 16; Page No. 282) May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.
Leaving a will to de...
