‘Place my third wherever Allah shows you.’ He may spend it in any avenue of worship where he sees fit to place it, acting according to the requirements of his testament. Al-Qadi mentioned that it is obligatory to spend it upon the poor and the destitute, and that it is best to spend it upon his poor relatives; if he finds none, then upon his unmarriageable kin (mahārim) through nursing, and if there are none, then upon his neighbors. The companions of Al-Shafi'i said: 'This is mandatory because he referred it to his (the executor's) discretion regarding that which holds benefit, and this is more beneficial.' Our position is that he may see other than this as more important and more beneficial, so it is not permissible to restrict him by an arbitrary judgment. Abu Dawood narrated from Ahmad that he was asked about a man who bequeathed his third to the poor, while he had needy relatives to whom he had bequeathed nothing and who did not inherit from him; he said: 'He should start with them, for they are more deserving.' He said: 'And he was asked about a Christian who bequeaths his third to the poor among the Muslims; should his siblings be given from it while they are poor?' He said: 'Yes, they are more deserving; they are to be given fifty dirhams, and no more than that.' He means that each one of them is not to be given more than that, because that is the amount that achieves sufficiency.

981- Issue: He said: (And if he bequeaths that Hajj be performed on his behalf with five hundred, then whatever remains shall be returned to the Hajj.)

The gist of this is that if he bequeaths a specific amount of money to have Hajj performed on his behalf, it is mandatory to spend all of it on the Hajj if the third of his estate covers it, because he bequeathed all of it for an act of worship, so it is mandatory to spend it therein, just as if he had bequeathed it in the path of Allah. The guardian does not have the right to pay anyone performing the Hajj more than the equivalent cost of a typical journey, because he granted absolute discretion in a transaction, which necessitates an equivalent exchange, similar to an agency in a sale. Then, the situation is either that it (the amount) is equal to the cost of a typical single Hajj, in which case it is spent on it, or it is less than that, in which case Hajj is performed on his behalf from wherever it reaches, according to the apparent text of Ahmad, for he said in...