Does a bequest to 'children' (*walad*) include subsequent generations when the dedicating person has no direct living children?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Endowments (Awqaf) and Donations

Book 27 · Issue 4 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

If a dedication is made to 'the children of Ali bin Ismail,' and he dies leaving only grandchildren (children of his sons), the property transfers to these grandchildren. This is based on the reasoning that since male descendants are included under the general term 'children' in Divine Law (Quran 4:11), they receive the benefit upon the absence of their fathers, just as they would not have received anything while their fathers were alive.