As for the person of weak intellect, if that hinders his discretion regarding his wealth, he is like the spendthrift; otherwise, he is like the sane person.

Section: The will of a mute person is valid if his gesture is understood, because it has been placed in the stead of his speech regarding his divorce, lian (imprecation), and other matters. If his gesture is not understood, it has no legal status. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i, and others. As for a person who possesses speech but becomes tongue-tied, if his will is presented to him and he indicates it, and his gesture is understood, his will is not valid. The Qadi and Ibn Aqil mentioned this, and it is the position of al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, and Abu Hanifa. Al-Shafi'i and Ibn al-Mundhir said: His will is valid, because he is unable to speak, making him similar to the mute. Ibn al-Mundhir argued that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed while seated and gestured to them, so they sat down (as recorded by al-Bukhari). Ibn Aqil derived a view that it is valid if death is connected to the loss of his speech. We argue that he is not despaired of regaining his speech, so his will via gesture is not valid, like one capable of speech. The hadith does not mandate this, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) was capable of speech, and there is no disagreement that the gesture of one who is capable of speech is not valid for a will or an admission, thus he differs from the mute because the mute is despaired of ever speaking.

Section: If a slave, a mukatab (contractual slave), a mudabbar (slave promised freedom upon the master's death), or an umm walad (slave woman who has borne her master's child) makes a will, and then they die while in a state of bondage, there is no will for them because they possess no wealth. If they are manumitted and then die without having changed their will, it is valid, because they have a valid statement and full legal capacity; they only differed from a free person in that they had no wealth, and a will is valid even with the absence of wealth, just as if a poor person who possesses nothing makes a will and then becomes wealthy. If one of them says: "When I am manumitted and then die, a third of my wealth is a bequest for such-and-such person," and he is manumitted and dies, his will is valid. This is the view of Abu Yusuf, Muhammad, and Abu Thawr. I know of no disagreement from anyone else.