Personal laws in India have their source of law from their Religions to which it relates. For example, procedures of marriage under Hindu law source themselves from religious scripts and writings, etc. Similarly, Muslim laws take their source from the Quran, which not only serves as a holy Book but also possesses various references of laws.

It has been believed that Sunnat and Hadis are nothing but the observations and acts of the Prophet and are followed and used by all Muslims after him. These acts and sayings have been codified as Muslim personal laws in various countries, which contain various rules and procedures from Registration of marriages to making wills before the death of a Muslim man/woman. Like other personal laws, these laws are also subject to a country’s constitution. This article will be dealing with one aspect of Muslim Personal laws, that is, the Wills made under Muslim laws and related concepts.

Wills under Muslim Laws:

Under Muslim laws, a will that is executed would be called Wasiyat. Unlike other wills executed, Muslim wills are subjected to modifications, that is to say, that the execution will modify the distribution of properties of a Muslim. The properties of a deceased Muslim will revolve around the person, who he thinks to inherit the properties of him. There can be objections made to such modifications and all such modifications are subject to rules that are laid down in Quran.
Even though the will is made under Muslim personal laws, indifferently, certain requirements need to be fulfilled or, in other words, the person who executes the will and the person on whom the will is made should have the specific conditions to validate the will.

Requirements:

• The first and most important requirement is that the person who makes the will should be a Muslim. Under Muslim personal law, the wills executed by any other person other than Muslim would remain void and laws are not applicable.
• The person who makes the will should have a mental conscience at the time of making/executing, which is while signing the will. Under Muslim law, a person executing the will should be aware of the actions done by him and the possible results of his acts. If a person has temporary insanity, then the execution of the will is still being valid, provided that the insanity does not long more than 6 months period.
• Under Muslim laws, age or any physical condition will not disable a person from executing the will. But then the same has been subjected to laws of the land. Indian Majority act provides the age of majority as 18 and the will executed below this age would remain void.
• Indian Contract act on Consent requires a contract to be executed under no persuasion, no undue influences, or any kind of force. Similarly, Muslim Will should also be executed under no force, free from any undue influences, etc. That is to say that, the free consent of the executor is strictly mandatory.
• It has been observed and as per the sources, the person who attempts to commit suicide or has attempted to commit suicide will be declared to inherit the property through the form of will. This practice is interconnected with the concept of the soundness of mind. The object behind such practice, in other words, is that the person who attempts to commit suicide will be presumed to be in a confused state of mind and is not eligible to inherit the will.

These are a few of the conditions that need to be fulfilled for a person to inherit the will or to execute the will. Like other personal laws, Muslim laws are slightly subjected to laws of the land to have validity and to make such will legal in the eyes of law.

The next and most important element to be noted under Muslim law is how these wills, as mentioned above are been formulated and executed?

Even though Muslim law does not explicitly define the mode or formulation of wills, the intention of the executor plays a key role in formulating it. The executor shall execute the will,

• Orally, which means that a mere oral declaration would suffice the will to get validity and no other means are expressly required per se.
• Written – In the case of will in writing, there is no explicit form that is mandatory. The only essence of will is required under Muslim law. Even signature is not mandatory.
• Through gestures and any actions

Importance of Muslim Wills:

Having seen the essential conditions and formulations of will, it becomes even more important to look into the importance or the purpose of will under Muslim Personal laws. A will, in general, is used as a device to confer certain rights over a property. Under Muslim law, a will allows the relatives of the executor to inherit some of his properties, who are excluded under Muslim laws. It is the choice of the executor of the will to decide on whom the property should devolve. The purposes of will are made clear through two Hadith.

Firstly, it says that there is a duty on Muslims, who has anything to gift or to allow inheritance should not let two nights pass without writing a will regarding the same (Sahih al-Bukhari). Secondly, if a person acts wickedly for seventy years, but has done better through his will, then he will reach the garden and not fire (Ahmad and Ibn Majah)

Conclusion:

Thus in Muslim personal laws, through the facts mentioned earlier, it is clear that there is an opportunity given to a Muslim person to make a will to a person who he thinks will not inherit his property. It is sort of a help that is made through this will. But then the personal laws are also required to be in line with the laws of the land to make such law valid in the eyes of law.