Home · Plan ahead

Write the page your family will reach for.

“It is not permissible for any Muslim who has something to will to stay for two nights without having his will written.” Start with the first call and the burial. Nothing here is final; come back and change it whenever you like.

The Prophet ﷺ · Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2738 · Your answers stay in this browser.

Ink drawing of a handwritten letter in an envelope on a notebook, with a fountain pen.

1

The first call

Your full nameMasjid funeral committeeName and phone numberPeople to tellName, relationship and phone, in the order they should hear

2

Washing and burial

Who you would like to wash youSomeone of the same sex, or your spouseWhere you would like to be buriedA cemetery, or “the nearest Muslim cemetery”

3

Debts

What you oweLoans, family debts, unpaid zakatWhat you are owedAnd whether to forgive it

4

Your bequest and papers

Your wasiyyahUp to one third, to people or causes that are not already heirsWhere your papers areWill, deed, bank, insurance, passwords

5

A few words to your family

Your message

A wasiyyah may give up to a third, and not to an heir: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2742; Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2870 (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ). This page is a record of your wishes, not a legal will. Ask an estate attorney in your state to draw up a will that carries them out.

Without a valid will, state law decides.If you die without a will that is valid in your state, your estate is divided by state law, not by the Islamic shares. Accounts with a named beneficiary and jointly owned property usually pass outside a will, and some states give a spouse rights a will cannot override; ask your attorney how to bring everything in line with the shares. See how the shares work

Ink drawing of a brass oil lamp with a red flame on a closed book.

The workbook

The same page, bound, for your shelf.

Thirty-two pages your family can find without a password. Masajid will be able to order copies for halaqas and new-Muslim classes. Reserve a copy and we will email you when it is ready to order.

Janazah wishes
People to tell
Debts and amounts owed
Accounts, and where passwords are kept
Wasiyyah worksheet
Inheritance shares
A letter to each heir
For the executor