Will in Favor of Mothers of Children

“I once copied the following from a book with the handwriting of abu al-Hassan (a.s.). It said, ’So and so, your Maxvla’ (friend), has died leaving behind a son of his brother, a mother of his child who does not have a child but he has assigned in his will one thousand for her; if such will is lawful and if freedom applies to her and her condition. It is a request for your opinion, I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause.’ He (the Imam) (a.s.), had written on it, ’She is free in one-third and the will belongs to her.”’

“I once wrote to abu al-Hassan, before this abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about the case of a man who died and left behind a mother of child for whom he willed something in his lifetime, then died. He (the Imam) wrote, ‘She can have what her master had given her in his lifetime in an acceptable manner. The testimony of both man and woman is acceptable in it as well as the testimony of a servant who is not accused of wrong doing.’”

She becomes free in one-third and the will belongs to her.’”

“I once asked abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who had a mother of a child from whom he had a boy; and at the time of his death, willed for her two thousand or more; if the heirs can keep her as a slave-girl. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, they cannot keep her as a slave. She becomes free in one-third of the legacy of the deceased and receives what is willed for her.’ “In the book of al- ‘Abbas it is said that she is freed from the share of her son and what is willed for her is given from the one-third of his legacy.”