It is narrated from Sayyiduna Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to visit me (i.e., to inquire about my health) in the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage, and my illness was severe. I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! You see the condition of my illness, and I am wealthy, and my only heir is my one daughter. Should I give two-thirds of my wealth for the sake of Allah? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“No.”I said: Should I give half of my wealth? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“No.”Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself said:“Give one-third of your wealth for Allah, and one-third is also much. If you leave your heirs wealthy, it is better than leaving them poor, begging from people, stretching their hands before them. And whatever you spend seeking Allah’s pleasure, you will be rewarded for it, even for what you put in your wife’s mouth.”Then I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! Will I remain behind my companions? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“If you remain behind and do good deeds, your rank will be elevated, and perhaps you will live (and not die in Makkah), until Allah, the Glorious and Majestic, benefits a people through you and harms a people through you. O Lord! Complete the migration of my companions, and do not turn them back from this migration on their heels.”But the one afflicted was Sayyiduna Sa’d bin Khawlah (may Allah be pleased with him), for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) grieved because he died in Makkah.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If someone makes a bequest of one-third of his wealth to a person, and says, "My slave should serve such-and-such person as long as that person is alive, then he is free," and afterwards the value of the slave equals one-third of the wealth, then the value of the slave's service will be assessed, and shares will be divided in the slave. The one to whom the bequest of one-third was made will have a share of one-third, and the one to whom the service was bequeathed will have a share according to the service. After that, both persons will take their share from the service or earnings of the slave. When the person for whom the service was intended dies, the slave will become free.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if a person makes a bequest to several people, and then his heirs claim that the bequest is more than one-third, then the heirs have the choice: either each legatee is given his bequest and the heirs take the rest of the deceased’s estate, or they hand over one-third of the wealth to the legatees, however many they may be, and then divide it among themselves according to their shares.