45. The law for legal heirs that replaced dying declaration.

These verses of the Quran (2:180; 2:240; 4:11- 12; 5:106) talk about dying declarations and legal heirs.

Before laws on legal heir could be revealed, a declaration of dying was mandatory. (Al-Quran 2:180, 2:240)

The declaration in the holy Quran (4:11-12, 4:176) specifying the quantum of the share of the deceased belongings ended the mandate for dying declaration.

Even though the requirement to make a dying declaration was abolished, there still exists a condition where one can express his last wishes at the time of his death.

We can understand this from the verses 4:11- 12 of the Quran that says ‘’Before proceeding to share the property (of the deceased) the death wishes (of the deceased) need to be executed. 

Nevertheless, the quantum of properties executed on death wish should not be in excess of 1/3rd of the total worth. A person worth 3 lakhs is entitled to make a death wish totaling 1 lakh alone. 

Even otherwise a death wish made by one for the entire belongings, only 1/3rd can be allotted for the purpose and all the rest needs to be shared as per Islamic laws.

When Sa’ad asked Prophet Muhammad whether he could bequeath his entire property for philanthropy the messenger of Allah replied in the negative and said, ‘only 1/3rd can be done, which in itself is more than enough.’

Hadith Bukhari: 3936, 4409, 5668, 6373

Hence one can bequeath not more than 33% of his total property to his relatives, friends, or the public in the form of dying declaration.