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women and islamic law 233The phrase dhuriyyat an ·i#§f an is a broad term to denote a wide rangeof ‘helpless’ people, for example disabled children, chronically illwives, unmarried daughters who live, in comparison to their muchhappier married sisters, a miserable life. The point is that the Book’sdesignation of people who receive bequests is as open and varied asthe testator wants it to be. It is entirely up to the person who writesa will to allot a bigger share for a handicapped daughter and asmaller share for the other children. In other instances a (divorced)parent might be given the sole rights over the deceased’s immoveableproperty, while the other parent receives the moveable property orno share at all. Bequests are simply more flexible and less restrictivebecause the laws of inheritance do not apply here. Inheritance lawswould not allow such personal preferences since they regulate thedistribution of the deceased’s money and property according to fixedformulas that ignore the personal circumstances of both the deceasedand the inheritors. Also, inheritance laws are gendered laws, theyoperate on the basis of a distinction between male and female inheritors,a distinction that is entirely irrelevant in verses dealing withbequests. 16It is a religious duty ( far·) to draw up a last will ‘whether theproperty be small or large’ (4:7). It is an individual duty ( far· #ayn)to fulfil ‘when death approaches you’ (2:180). It is a sacred obligationthat no one is allowed to change or abrogate: ‘If anyone changes thebequest after hearing it, the guilt shall be on those who make thechange. For God hears and knows (all things)’ ( Al-Baqara 2:181). Ifmistakes are made, for example, if someone bequeaths all the moneyto the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals despitethe fact that one should have considered existing children, brothers,and sisters, it means that this person has indeed overlooked Allah’scommand to consider al-w§lidain wa’l-aqrabÊn. But in this case thefollowing verse will apply, advising people, if faced with such errors,to apply mercy and forgiveness:But if anyone fears partiality or wrong-doing on the part of the testator,and makes peace between (the parties concerned), there is nowrong in him: for God is oft-forgiving, most merciful. ( Al-Baqara2:182)16‘From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for menand a share for women, whether the property be small or large—a determinateshare’ ( Al-Nis§" 4:7).