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Islamic will (wasiyyah) builder

Draft a will in the order a Sunni will usually follows, then save it as PDF. Have a scholar check it and make it valid under your country's law.

What a Sunni will contains

The Qur'an puts bequests and debts before the heirs' shares (an-Nisāʾ 4:11–12). A will usually asks for the funeral costs and debts to be paid first, makes bequests from at most one third of what remains, and leaves the rest to the heirs by their fixed shares.

The verses on the will: al-Baqarah 2:180–182

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ (البقرة ١٨٠)
فَمَنْ بَدَّلَهُ بَعْدَ مَا سَمِعَهُ فَإِنَّمَا إِثْمُهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يُبَدِّلُونَهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (البقرة ١٨١)
فَمَنْ خَافَ مِنْ مُوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا فَأَصْلَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (البقرة ١٨٢)

2:180 prescribes, for one who leaves wealth when death approaches, a bequest to parents and near relatives, in fairness. 2:181 puts the sin on whoever alters a will after hearing it. 2:182 clears one who fears a testator's injustice or sin and sets things right between them.

Read 2:180–182 with translations

The hadith of Saʿd: a third, and a third is a lot

فَقُلْتُ ... أَفَأَتَصَدَّقُ بِثُلُثَيْ مَالِي؟ قَالَ (لا) ... أَفَأَتَصَدَّقُ بِشَطْرِهِ؟ قَالَ (لَا. الثُّلُثُ. وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِيرٌ. إِنَّكَ أَنْ تَذَرَ وَرَثَتَكَ أَغْنِيَاءَ، خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ تَذَرَهُمْ عَالَةً يَتَكَفَّفُونَ النَّاسَ ...)

Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ asked whether he could give two thirds of his wealth in charity, then half. The Prophet ﷺ said no to both and allowed a third: “a third, and a third is a lot”, adding that leaving one's heirs well off is better than leaving them to ask people for help. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1628 (3/1250–1251).

Write your will

Everything you type stays in this browser. The draft is saved on this device only; nothing is sent to our server.

You

Executor and guardian

Funeral

The order and the wording “without stinginess or excess” are from al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Kitāb al-Farāʾiḍ). Other wishes are your own.

Estate and debts

Used only to check the one-third limit. Left blank, only percentages are compared.

Debts to people

Debts to God

Write these in if you owe them: the Ḥanafī school pays a debt to God only when the will asks for it, and then from the third (al-Durr al-Mukhtār).

Bequests (waṣiyya)

The rest of the estate

School whose fixed shares divide the rest

The will names the school, not the shares: the family can change before the death.

Witnesses

Your will

In the print window, choose “Save as PDF” as the destination.

Will

Draft. Have a scholar check it, and make it valid under your country's law (witnesses, a notary or registration, as the law there requires). This draft is not a legal document.

I, ____________________, of ____________________, make this will of my own free choice.

Executor

I appoint ____________________ to carry out this will.

Funeral

My funeral costs are to be paid from my estate first, at a moderate cost, without stinginess or excess.

Debts

Before any bequest or inheritance, my debts are to be paid from my estate (Qur'an 4:11–12).

I list no debts here; any debt that is proven is to be paid first.

Bequests

I make no bequest.

The rest of my estate

What remains after my debts and bequests goes to my heirs, divided by the fixed shares of the ____________________ school (Qur'an 4:11–12).

Earlier wills

This will cancels every will I made before it.

Signatures

Testator

Name
Signature
Date

Witness 1

Name
Signature
Date
Address

Witness 2

Name
Signature
Date
Address
See how the estate would be divided

Questions about the will

Can I leave more than one third in my will?
Bequests take effect up to one third of what remains after the funeral costs and debts (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1628). Above a third, the excess takes effect only if the heirs consent after the death; otherwise the bequests are reduced to a third.
Can I leave a bequest to one of my heirs?
Not on its own. By the hadith “No bequest for an heir” (Tirmidhī 2121), the Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools let it take effect only if the other heirs consent after the death. The Mālikī school holds it void even with consent.
Is a will made here legally valid?
No. It is a draft. Have a scholar check it, then make it valid under your country's law, which may require witnesses, a notary or registration.
Is what I type sent anywhere?
No. The form runs in your browser. The draft is saved on this device only, and the “Clear draft” button deletes it.
Why write unpaid zakat or other debts to God into the will?
The schools differ. The Ḥanafī school pays a debt to God only if the will asks for it, and then from the third (al-Durr al-Mukhtār). The Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools pay it from the estate whether or not it was willed (Mughnī al-Muḥtāj 4/7; Kashshāf al-Qināʿ 10/232). The Mālikī school pays some kinds from the estate and others only if attested or willed (Ḥāshiyat al-Ṣāwī 4/616).