Wasiyyah

An Islamic will or bequest. Allows a Muslim to direct up to one-third of their estate to beneficiaries or causes outside the mandatory Faraid (inheritance) shares. The remaining two-thirds must be distributed according to the Quranic rules of inheritance.

A wasiyyah cannot be used to give additional shares to those who already receive Faraid-designated portions (unless the other heirs consent). In the U.S., an Islamic will is legally recognized when properly drafted and executed according to state laws. It is strongly recommended for all Muslims in non-Muslim-majority countries to ensure their estate is distributed according to their wishes and Islamic guidelines.

Wasiyyah is the Islamic bequest — the portion of an estate a Muslim may direct by will — and it operates under two famous constraints from the Prophet's instruction to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas: no more than one-third of the estate ('a third, and a third is much'), and, per the hadith 'no bequest to an heir' (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi), nothing to those already receiving fixed Faraid shares (their allocation is divinely set and cannot be augmented by will without the other heirs' consent). Within those limits the wasiyyah is free: charity, non-heir relatives (an orphaned grandchild blocked by hajb, a non-Muslim parent who cannot inherit under the different-religion bar), friends, institutions, waqf endowments.

The sequencing rule matters: wasiyyah is paid after funeral costs and debts, before Faraid distribution. In American practice the terminology creates a translation task, because a U.S. 'last will and testament' must do two jobs at once: implement the mandatory Faraid scheme over the remaining two-thirds-plus (which is not wasiyyah at all, but the fixed shares) and optionally exercise the discretionary one-third bequest.

Islamic will platforms and attorneys draft accordingly — a distribution clause implementing Faraid methodology, plus an optional bequest clause capped at one-third. Two American-specific cautions: beneficiary-designation assets (401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance) pass outside the will and can accidentally violate both rules, and spousal elective-share statutes can override the scheme unless addressed with waivers or marital agreements.