What is the shar‘i wording of the will?

Al-Bukhaari (2738) and Muslim (1627) narrated from
‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It is not right
for a Muslim man who has anything that he wants to bequeath, to stay for
more than two nights without having his will written with him.” 

Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In this hadeeth
there is encouragement to make a will, and the Muslims are unanimously
agreed that it is enjoined, but our view and the view of the majority is
that it is recommended and not obligatory. Dawood and other literalists
said: It is obligatory, because of this hadeeth, but they have no evidence
to that effect. It does not clearly state that it is obligatory, but if a
person owes a debt or is owed something or has something deposited with him
for safekeeping and so on, then he has to leave instructions concerning it.
Al-Shaafa‘i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The meaning of the hadeeth
is: It is more appropriate for the Muslim to have his will written with him,
and it is mustahabb to do it sooner rather than later, and to write it when
he is in good health and to have it witnessed; he should write in it what he
needs, and if something new comes up that needs a will, he should add it to
it. They said: He does not have to write down every day the minor matters
and transactions that may happen on a daily basis. End quote. 

Wills are of two types: 

–        
Obligatory will, in which a
person explains what he owes and what is owed to him of rights, such as a
debt, loan and items entrusted to his care; or rights that he is owed by
other people. In this case the will is obligatory to protect his wealth and
to absolve himself of responsibility.

–        
Recommended will, which is
purely voluntary, such as a will in which a man bequeaths one third or less
of his wealth to a relative who is not an heir, or to someone else; or a
will giving instructions concerning righteous deeds of charity to the poor
and needy, or other good causes. See: Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
16/264. 

A man may give instructions to his family with regard to
matters having to do with his funeral, such as who will wash him, who will
offer the prayer for him and so on. He can also instruct them to refrain
from bid‘ahs and innovated matters, and to avoid wailing and other forbidden
actions, especially if he knows that they might do some of these things. 

This is indicated in the report narrated by Muslim (121),
according to which ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) said
when he was dying: If I die, do not let any wailing woman or fire accompany
me. 

And al-Tirmidhi (986) and Ibn Maajah (1476) narrated that
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If I die, do
not inform anyone of it, for I am afraid that that would be a public death
announcement. I heard the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) forbidding making public death announcements. This hadeeth was
classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. 

Ahmad (10141) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: If I die, do not set up a tent over me, and do not
follow me with fire; hasten to send me to my Lord, for I heard the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “When the slave or
righteous man is placed on his bier, he says: Take me forward, take me
forward. But when the bad man is placed on his bier, he says: Woe to you,
where are you taking me?”

This hadeeth was classed as hasan by Shu‘ayb al-Arna’oot in
Tahqeeq al-Musnad. 

Al-Haakim narrated in al-Mustadrak (1409) that Qays
ibn ‘Aasim (may Allah be pleased with him) left instructions when he died
saying: If I die, do not wail over me, for there was no wailing over the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Al-Haakim
said: This is a hadeeth with a saheeh isnaad, although they [al-Bukhaari and
Muslim] did not narrate it. Al-Dhahabi said in al-Talkhees: It is
saheeh. 

This and other reports indicate that it is prescribed to make
a will concerning some matters having to do with the funeral or warning
against wailing, and so on. 

But there is no specific wording for the will to which a
person has to adhere; rather he may leave instructions in whatever way is
appropriate for his situation and that of his family, and regarding what he
is owed and what he owes, as mentioned above. 

What matters is that one should not believe that there is
some specific wording mentioned in some report that must be used. The
Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked about the will that appears
in the pamphlet, “This is my Islamic will.” 

They replied: After reading the will mentioned, we did not
find anything in it that is contrary to sharee‘ah, but wording it in a
specific way and distributing it among people gives the impression that it
is mustahabb for every individual to mention in his will what is mentioned
in that will, or to buy this will and give it to one who will take care of
his estate after he dies, even though there is no need for that, because the
rulings on funerals are to be found in the books of fiqh and the one who
needs to know them may refer to those books without having to follow any
specific wording, especially since the Muslims in this land, praise be to
Allah, are following the Sunnah with regard to the rulings on funerals. End
quote. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
16/289. 

And Allah knows best.