His Will

The Writing of the Will

The honorable late Sheikh wrote his Will and changed it a several times, in light of the circumstances. The first Will was written in the presence of a registry clerk at Akko's Courthouse. This Will referred to all assets of the deceased. The second Will was written in his own handwriting in 1983 and included the following topics:
  • Contribution of funds for the benefit of the holy sites, as well as to houses of worship and for Sheikhs in Israel and Lebanon.
  • A special Will for his daughter Hana as a gratitude for all she has done in the house throughout the years.
  • A special Will that dealt with the distribution of assets to his five daughters.
  • An affidavit concerning the annulment of the first Will.
  • A Will where he appointed his grandson, Sheikh Muafak Tareef, to be his successor as the leader of the Druze community and in charge of the assets of the late Nebi Shueib and late Nebi AI-Hader in Kfar Yassif, as well as to be responsible for Hiluat Julis.
The last Will was written in 1985 and is essentially similar to the previous Will. This Will was divided into two parts: the first part was dedicated to the special Will relating to his daughter Hana and the second part included the rest of the topics listed above.

 

The Execution of the Will

On 4/10/1993, after the eulogy ceremony and before the funeral of the late Sheikh Ameen Tareef, Sheikh Abu Azam Nawaf Halabi, the former mayor of the municipality of Daliat EI-Carmel gave a short speech and requested the respected Druze religious leaders to carry out the Sheikh's Will and to dress his grandson, Sheikh Muafak Tareef, with the late Sheikh's gown. Many of the present religious leaders rose up and dressed Sheikh Muafak with the gown as a sign of appreciation and appointment to be the next spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel. The spiritual leadership of the Druze in Israel decided that right after finishing the construction of the tomb, an inauguration assembly will take place and the Will will be read in public.
On 22/10/1993, approximately one thousand Druze religious leaders gathered in the house of the late Sheikh, and asked Sheikh Abu Yusef Salech Kadmani from the village Yarka to read the Will out loud.
At the end of the assembly all participants accepted the following resolutions, which have been written down in Arabic and signed:
  • October 2nd of each year will be the Memorial Day to Sheikh Ameen Tareef, during which the religious leaders will come to his tomb and pray for his soul.
  • The Sheikh's successor will be, according to his Will, Sheikh Muafak Tareef.
The document was translated to Hebrew by Ziad Salach, Attorney at Law (see document).

 

The wording of the Will

The Will of the late Sheikh Ameen Tareef was written in his handwriting in Arabic.