BEQUESTS

Arabic وصية‎ waṣīyah , pl. waṣāyā . A bequest or will can be made verbally, although it is held to be better to execute it in writing. Two lawful witne es are nece ary to establish either a verbal bequest or a written will. A bequest in favour of a stranger to the amount of one-third of the whole property, is valid, but a bequest to any amount beyond that is invalid, unle the heirs give their consent. If a person make a bequest in favour of another from whom he has received a mortal wound, it is not valid, and if a legatee slay his testator the bequest in his favour is void. A bequest made to part of the heirs is not valid unle the other heirs give their consent. The bequest of a Muslim in favour of an unbeliever, or of an unbeliever in favour of a Muslim, is valid. If a person be involved in debt, legacies bequeathed by him are not lawful. A bequest in favour of a child yet unborn is valid, provided the fœtus happen to be le than six months old at the time of the making of the will. If a testator deny his bequest, and the legatee produce witne es to prove it, it is generally held not to be a retractation of it. If a person on his death-bed emancipate a slave, it takes effect after his death. If a person will that “the pilgrimage incumbent on him be performed on his behalf after his death,” his heirs must depute a person for the purpose, and supply him with the nece ary expenses. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah , vol. iv. 466.) BESTIALITY is said by Muslim jurists to be the result of the most vitiated appetite and the utmost depravity of sentiment. But if a man commit it, he does not incur the Ḥadd , or stated punishment, as the act is not considered to have the properties of whoredom; the offender is to be punished by a discretionary correction ( Taʿẕīr ). According to Muslim law, the beast should be killed, and if it be of an eatable species, it should be burnt. ( Hidāyah , vol. ii. 27.) Obs . According to the Mosaic code, a man guilty of this crime was surely to be put to death. ( Ex. xviii. 19 .)