In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and may blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.
This is a summary of what was presented in this part of the explanation of Imam al-Shafi’i’s al-Risala, focusing on the important points and clarifications.
Chapter on the abrogating and the abrogated indicated by the Sunnah and consensus:
- The bequest to parents and near relatives:
- The verse “Prescribed for you when death approaches [any] one of you if he leaves wealth [is that he should make] a bequest for the parents and near relatives according to what is acceptable - a duty upon the righteous” (Al-Baqarah 2:180) is cited as evidence that the bequest to parents and near relatives was obligatory.
- The verse “And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind - for their wives is a bequest: maintenance for one year without turning [them] out…” (Al-Baqarah 2:240) is cited as evidence that the bequest to wives was obligatory.
- The verses of inheritance were revealed after the verses of bequest, and it was possible either that the verses of inheritance abrogated the verses of bequest or that they established inheritance alongside bequest.
- One must search for the indication in the Book of Allah and then in the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ to settle this possibility.
- The hadith “No bequest for an heir,” narrated by al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, al-Bayhaqi, and Ibn al-Jarud with an authentic chain, and upon which the scholars of the military expeditions (maghazi) from Quraysh and others agreed, abrogates the verses of bequest for parents and near relatives who are heirs.
- The difference between Islamic civilization and Western civilization in dealing with wealth and inheritance. Islamic civilization is founded on the oneness of Allah and care for society, whereas Western civilization is founded on selfishness and love of money.
- A comparison between the care of the elderly in Islam and in the West. In Islam, children are urged to care for their parents, whereas in the West the elderly are left in nursing homes.
- The hadith “O Allah, give the one who spends a replacement, and give the one who withholds ruin.”
- The hadith of the man who freed six slaves at his death, the Prophet’s ﷺ disapproval of that, and his order to cast lots among them and free only two, is evidence that it is not permissible to bequeath all of one’s wealth when it wrongs the heirs, and that a bequest may only be within a third of the wealth.
- A discussion of Tawus’s view that a bequest is permissible only for near relatives who are not heirs, and Imam al-Shafi’i’s response that a bequest is permissible for anyone who is not an heir, whether a relative or not, though it is preferable that it go to needy relatives.
- Conclusion: a bequest is permissible within a third of the wealth for anyone who is not an heir; it is preferable that it go to needy relatives; and there is no bequest for an heir.
- Abrogation in the verses on unlawful intercourse (continued from the previous session):
- Clarification that the hadith “Take from me: Allah has ordained a way for them. The unmarried with the unmarried: one hundred lashes and banishment for a year. The previously married with the previously married: one hundred lashes and stoning” abrogates the earlier rulings on unlawful intercourse.
- Flogging is established for the unmarried offender, and stoning is established for the previously married offender.
- This ruling is specific to free persons. As for slave women, theirs is half the punishment of the muhsanat, that is, half the flogging.
- What is meant by ihsan here is Islam.
- The prescribed punishments are bounded by the destruction of a life; that is, they do not go beyond the destruction of a life, and they aim at deterrence.
- Other topics:
- Using a weak hadith as evidence when it is supported by consensus.
- The difference between a spatial and a temporal boundary (miqat).
- The virtue of spending in the path of Allah.
- The superiority of Islamic civilization over other civilizations.
- An explanation of the standing of the Prophet ﷺ in Islam.
Some important benefits:
- An explanation of how the bequest to inheriting parents and near relatives was abrogated by the hadith “No bequest for an heir.”
- An explanation of how some of the rulings on unlawful intercourse were abrogated.
- The difference between Islamic civilization and Western civilization in dealing with wealth and inheritance.
- The virtue of spending in the path of Allah.
- An explanation of the standing of the Prophet ﷺ in Islam.
We ask Allah the Exalted for acceptance and ease.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Risala by Shaykh Dr. Ahmad al-Naqeeb