EXECUTOR

Arabic Waṣī ( وصى‎ ), a term also used for the testator; wakīl ʿalā ʾl-waṣīyah ( وكيل على الوصية‎ ). An executor having accepted his appointment in the presence of the testator, is not afterwards at liberty to withdraw, and any act indicative of his having accepted the position of executor binds him to fulfil his duties. A Muslim may not appoint a slave, or a reprobate ( fāsiq ) or an infidel as his executor, and in the event of his doing so, the Qāẓī must nominate a proper substitute. But if none of the testator’s heirs have attained their majority, a slave may be appointed as executor until they are of age. If joint executors have been appointed and one of them die, the Qāẓī must appoint a substitute in office. In the cases of infants or absent heirs, the executor is entitled to po e himself pro tem . of their property, but he cannot trade with his ward’s portion. If a person die without appointing an executor, the next of kin administers the estate, and it is an arrangement of Muslim law that his father is his executor and not his eldest son. ( Hidāyah , vol. iv. p. 554.)