In 1910, al-Mahdi al-Wazzani, one of the most distinguished muftis of Morocco, published an extensive compilation of Maliki fatwas and named it al-Mi'yar al-Jadid (the New Standard Measure). It is my contention that in compiling this collection, al-Wazzani aimed to redefine Maliki jurisprudence for the modern age by composing a new and updated orthodoxy, emphasizing its renewed nature as a response to changing realities. Thus, he included in the collection those fatwas he deemed particularly pertinent to the social and cultural circumstances of his society, and crafted legal responses that corresponded to the concrete sensibilities and concerns of his contemporaries. The purpose of this essay is to investigate al-Wazzani's interpretation of family life and kinship practices in the context of a particular history of modernity. Specifically, my paper examines one fatwa of al-Wazzani that focuses on the transmission of property via hubus endowments within the family. In analyzing al-Wazzani's portrayal of the hubus institution, I ask what family relations appear fundamental, and what concepts and ideas acquire meaning in his interpretation of the transmission of wealth within the family. I demonstrate that in constructing his legal interpretations, al-Wazzani understood the legal notion of family as essentially patriarchal in nature. His reasoning lends importance to the principle of patrimonial continuity, which takes place in the relationships between fathers and sons. However, I argue that the patrilineal notion of family was only one notion, though a pivotal one, in the discourse on property and family. Al-Wazzani viewed the process of property transmission from one generation to the next within the family as shaped by and embedded in a variety of fundamental ideas about relations among kin and hierarchies of gender. I illustrate that notions about family's responsibility to its vulnerable members, especially women and their minor children were expressed in al-Wazzani's discourse. An important insight of my study is that the definition of the modern as a necessary conceptual break from the traditional does not adequately convey the nature of modernity in Muslim societies. My investigation of al-Wazzani's interpretation of the inner workings of the family suggests a less dichotomous and abrupt movement to modern practices.