Question:
He asks about verse 5:106 — how we should understand the instruction that, when someone makes a will during travel, the witnesses should be detained after prayer and made to swear an oath. He asks whether this is to be understood as it is or whether it is a ruling that has been changed.
Answer:
This verse needs to be explained a little in detail. What this verse explains is this: suppose you are travelling. While travelling, you would be carrying your belongings, luggage, and wealth. To understand this verse properly, imagine a group of ten people travelling together.
Among them, one person senses that death is approaching him. When death approaches, he will have belongings, luggage, and wealth with him. If he dies without making a will regarding those belongings, nothing can be done later. When he realizes that death is near, he begins explaining what he possesses. He says, “These items are in that bag. If I die, take these items to my town and give them to these people.” His family members would be in his hometown.
In those days, people travelled mainly for trade and earnings. They would go from one town to another, earn money, collect wealth, then move to another place and earn again. Finally, they would return to their hometown with accumulated wealth. So, when a trading group travelled, a person might have large amounts of money with him. If death approached him at that time, he would wish to make a will. If he wanted to make a will, he would do so.
If he makes a will, he should do it with two witnesses. Since you are travelling and unexpected things may happen, if you sense death approaching, you should decide how your wealth should be distributed. You might say, “Give this to my wife, give this portion to my son, give this to my father, give this to my mother,” and so on, assigning his belongings to relatives as he wishes.
The reason the Qur’an instructs making a will is because if he dies without specifying anything, there could be confusion regarding the wealth he leaves behind. Therefore, if he gets the opportunity to make a will, he should do it with two witnesses.
Those witnesses should preferably be Muslims from among your own people. Since it is a matter related to a Muslim’s wealth and family, those who know your family would be more reliable. However, during travel, people from different communities may accompany you, and Muslims might not be available. If no Muslim witnesses are present and only non-Muslims are travelling with you, then they may be taken as witnesses.
When such witnesses carry the belongings and return to the deceased person’s hometown, they would hand over the items and say, “Your father travelled with us. He passed away during the journey. Before he died, he made this will and instructed that these items be given to these people.”
However, there is a possibility that witnesses might conceal part of the wealth or distribute it unfairly — giving more to some relatives and less to others. Since the decision depends on these witnesses, the Qur’an gives a method to verify them.
The verse says that when these witnesses return, they should be made to stand after prayer and swear by Allahﷻ. If doubts arise about what they are saying, they must swear that they are not seeking personal benefit, that they are not hiding any testimony, and that they are speaking truthfully even if it concerns close relatives.
If they swear, their testimony is accepted. If the family has no doubts, they can accept it directly. But if the family doubts their testimony, they can demand this oath to remove suspicion.
In earlier times, Jews, Christians, and even polytheists believed in Allahﷻ in some form. Therefore, when they swore by Allahﷻ, they feared lying in that oath. So, they were required to swear in Allahﷻ’s name.
If after their oath the family still feels something is wrong, the next verse (5:107) explains the solution. Two members from the deceased person’s family who have rightful claim to the inheritance may come forward and swear by Allahﷻ that they do not accept the witnesses’ testimony and that they believe it is false. If they do this, the will is considered invalid, and the wealth is distributed according to Islamic inheritance law as though no will was made.
This ruling still exists today in principle. However, one aspect has changed. The Prophetﷺ said: “There is no will for an heir.” After the inheritance laws were revealed, a person cannot make a will in favour of someone who is already an Islamic heir, because Allahﷻ has already fixed each heir’s share.
If someone makes a will for non-heirs — such as distant relatives, friends, or others — that will be executed. But if the will is made for heirs, it is not valid, and inheritance law will apply instead.
Therefore, wills for heirs have been restricted, but the general ruling of making a will with witnesses remains valid.