A Will for Setting free Slaves, Charity or al-Hajj

“About the case of a man who makes a will about more than one-third of his legacy, or setting free a slave during his illness, abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘If it is more than one-third it is returned to one-third and setting free of slave is permissible/”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If a man when about to die sets free a servant, then makes another will, the will is dropped and the servant is set free from the one-third of his legacy except if the will exceeds one-third of the legacy.”’

“This about the case of a man who makes a will when about to die, for relatives and setting free of a slave but the total exceeds one-third of the legacy and about how to deal with it. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘First it is executed about setting free of the slave then about the rest.’”

“About the case of a man who when about to die sets free his slave and makes a will but the total is more than one-third of his legacy, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It is executed about the setting free of the slave and the deficit falls on the rest of the will.’”

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘’Alqamah ibn Muhammad has made a will that I must set free a slave for him, and I set free for him a woman: if this is sufficient or must I set free for him from my own property.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is sufficient.’ He (the Imam) then said to me, ‘Fatimah, mother of my son, made a will that I set free for her a slave and I set free for her a woman.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘A man once asked me about a woman who died without performing al-Hajj but made a will about an amount which is sufficient for al-Hajj. He asked if it is better to spend it on the needy people from the descendents of Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam, it will be done so; if performing al-Hajj is better al-Hajj would be performed for her. I said to him that if al-Hajj was obligatory on her, spending it for al-Hajj is more beloved to me than distributing on other things.’”

“This is about the case of a man who dies but makes a will to perform al-Hajj for him. He (the Imam) (a.s.), has said, ‘If it is his first al-Hajj then al-Hajj is performed from the center of the legacy, but if it is not his first al-Hajj then it is paid for from the one-third of his legacy.’”

“About the case of a woman who makes a will to set free a slave, pay charity and al-Hajj but there is not enough, he (the Imam) (a.s.), said that first is al-Hajj because it is obligatory and if anything remains extra then spend something on charity and something for setting free a slave.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about the case of a man who has made a will about thirty dinars to set free a man from our people but it cannot be done with that much. (The Imam) said, ‘A slave then must be bought from other people for this purpose.’”

“I once asked the virtuous servant of Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who has made a will about thirty dinar to set free a Muslim slave but it cannot be done with that amount. He (the Imam) said, ‘They must then buy from the rest of the people as long as he is not hostile to ‘A’immah (a.s.).’”

“The Shaykh (a.s.), has said that abu Ja‘far (a.s.), died and left sixty slaves of whom he set free one-third and I determined such slaves by raffle and took the one-third away.’”

“I once asked abu Ja’far (a.s.), about a slave-girl who was set free by my brother who served with slave-girls and was in his dependents. He made a will to spend for her from the center of the legacy. He (the Imam) said, ‘If she was with the slave-girls and managed them, then you must spend for her and execute the will.’”

“I once asked abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who made a will to set free a slave for five hundred dirham from the one-third of his legacy. A slave was bought for less than five hundred dirham and something remained extra. What do you say about it? He (the Imam) said, ‘Give the extra to the slave before setting him free, then set him free for the deceased.’”

“A woman of our family made a will about one-third of her legacy and asked to set free a slave, perform al-Hajj and give charity; but the one-third was not sufficient. I asked abu Hanifah about it and he said, ’Make it in three equal parts and spend one part for each cause/ I then visited abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), and said that a woman from our family has died and made a will about one-third of her legacy and has asked to set free a slave, perform al-Hajj and pay charity. I checked it but it is not sufficient. He (the Imam) said, ’You must begin with al-Hajj because it is obligatory of the obligation to Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, and make the remaining into two parts: one for setting free a slave and one for charity.’ I then informed abu Hanifah about the words of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.). He changed his fatwa and accepted the words of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.).”

“About the case of a man who at the time of his death makes a will to set free a slave so and so and so and so. I looked into the one-third of his legacy and found that it is not even equal to one-eighth of the five slaves whom he had mentioned, he (the Imam) (a.s.), said, ‘You must evaluate the slaves and begin setting free one, two, three, four and five. The slave (or slaves) whom he mentioned last cannot be freed if the one-third is not sufficient for his (or their) cost.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about the case of a man who on a journey was with a slave-girl and two slaves. He said to them, ‘You are free for the sake of Allah and bear witness that the child in the womb of the slave-girl is from me. She gave birth to a son. When they came back, the heir refused the will and kept them as slaves. The two slaves were later set free and they testified that their previous master had asked them to bear witness that the child in the womb of the slave-girl was his child. He (the Imam) said, ‘Their testimony is acceptable and the child about whom they testified cannot make them slaves because they proved his genealogical relation.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about the case of a man who is about to die and sets free all of his slaves. He owns certain slaves and certain others with a partner and about the condition of the ones that he owns with a partner. He (the Imam) said, ‘His slaves of the partnership must be evaluated; if his share covers them, they are all free.’”

“This is about the case of a man who dies and leaves as his legacy a slave-girl whose one-third he sets free and the executor of the will marries her before the distribution of the legacy. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘She is appraised, then with her husband both are made to work to pay for the remaining of her cost after being appraised. Thereafter, whatever of her becomes free or remains in slavery applies to her child also.’”