The Holy Quran 2:180 — Surah Al-Baqarah

Arabic text

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ إِن تَرَكَ خَيْرًا ٱلْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

Translation

It has been made obligatory for you (to make) a bequest (in your will) that is just (not more than one-third of your wealth) in favour of your parents and close relatives when (the signs of) death appears before any of you and you are leaving wealth behind. This (law) is a duty upon those who have fear for Allaah. (This law was revealed because people used to make bequests for the rich and leave nothing for their parents and relatives. However, this compulsion was later cancelled when Allaah revealed the laws that fix the shares that parents and close relatives receive from the wealth of a dead person. Although a person should not make a bequest for an heir, if he does bequest less than a third for an heir, it will be given to the heir only if all the other heirs permit it after the person's death.)

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

On the obligation of the bequest: the first ruling, qisas (retaliation), concerned the life of the deceased; this second ruling concerns his wealth, and it is an explanation of what was said among the general principles stated earlier: وَاٰتَى الْمَالَ عَلٰى حُبِّهٖ ذَوِى الْقُرْبٰى (“and gives wealth, despite his love for it, to relatives”).

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