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women and islamic law 257Bequest/TestimonyInheritance lawsCaregiverparentsandbirth-giversCommentsVerses of bequests considercaregiver-parents.Testators are entitled tocombine shares of bequestswith shares of inheritance bystipulating how much can bebequeathed and how muchcan be inherited. There istherefore nothing that wouldlimit or restrain the freedomof the testators to write theirlast will as they wish.However, parliament mightissue a law that regulates theamount of the inheritance thatcan be bequeathed. Such lawshave no eternal validity. Wedo not accept the traditionalunderstanding of inheritancethat states: ‘no bequest [isadmitted] to the inheritor’.Bequests can take effect evenbefore the death of thetestator.Verses of inheritance consider‘birth-givers’ and other ascendants(to whatever degree up)under the umbrella of al-ab§’, aswell as children and otherdescendants (to whatever degreedown) under the umbrella ofal-abn§’.Inheritance laws were given onthe assumption that both maleand female heirs exist (mother/father; brother/sister; husband/wife). There are of course caseswhere only one sex exists, e.g.,the deceased is survived by onlymale children, or only femalechildren, or where there areonly brothers but no sisters, oronly sisters but no brothers. Inall these cases the rule is thatevery heir of the same sexreceives exactly the same share.For this rule no additionalrevelation was needed, and it isso self-evident that no furtherfiqh commentary or ÈadÊth by acompanion of the Prophet (ß) orby anyone after them isrequired.Symbols Used to Calculate the Shares of InheritanceCategoryNumber of female heirsNumber of male heirsSymbolFMRatio between female and male heirs FX = __ MShare of a male heirShare of a female heirD1D2Ratio between the share of a female heirand the share of a male heir D2Y = ____D1