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In September 1939, Fiji's Legislative Council debated a testamentary disposition bill, patterned after the English Inheritance (Family Provision) Act of 1938. The bill's introduction followed a routine procedure of the transplantation of English legislation to colonial jurisdictions. 1The bill empowered the court to modify wills in which the testator had deprived the spouse and children of reasonable maintenance. As debate ensued, Said Hasan, the recently nominated Muslim Member of the Legislative Council, rose to offer his support. He noted that the bill gave partial effect to "the underlying principle of Mohammedan law." The "policy" of Mohammedan law, he argued, was to prevent the testator from interfering with the devolution of property to family members in "fixed and definite shares." A testator was entitled to will only a "bequeathable third" of the estate beyond the fixed shares assigned to dependents. Hasan further declared that the bill was a "tacit admission" of the injustice suffered by dependents excluded from their rightful share in family property. 2
Hasan proposed a minor amendment to the bill, naming the parents of the testator as additional beneficiaries.3A European Member, H.B. Gibson. commented: "I think this is something really beautiful which we have learned from the Mohammedan law that a testator has an obligation in addition to providing for his widow and children to provide for his father and mother. I do sincerely hope that the Government will see their way to insert the amendment." Hasan corrected Gibson, stating that Mohammedan law did not obligate the testator to provide for his parents; rather, the father and mother were entitled to a fixed share of the testator's property "in their own right." Gibson replied, "I will say then that it is a beautiful suggestion on the part of my honourable and learned friend." 4Hasan's amendment was adopted and incorporated into Ordinance 21 of 1939.5
As he offered his amendment, Hasan reminded Governor Arthur Richards of the broader scope of his concern. He cited earlier "assurances" received from Governor Murchison Fletcher, that "the personal law of the Mohammedans" would be made applicable to Fiji Muslims. At the invitation of Fletcher, Hasan had prepared three draft ordinances for the application of Islamic...