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10/08/2019 Women’s Inheritance Rights under Islamic Law | Fatima Yahya

Women’s Inheritance Rights under Islamic Law


Islam is a religion that is made to fit people in all places and at anytime. This religion
organizes a Muslim’s life by issuing many rules and laws which guarantee an honorable and
happy life for each Muslim. Everyone is included in these laws: rulers, men, women, children, poor
and sick people, and all other individuals in the society. Since women form a main part of the
society and most of their rights were denied in the pre-Islamic periods, Islam has honored them by
issuing many laws to protect them and to give them a dignified life, the specific and fixed right of
inheritance is one of these laws. In contrast with other religions, Islam has guaranteed a fair right
of inheritance for women. 
                       Before starting to talk about women’s inheritance rights in Islam, we must first look at
several things: the sources of the Islamic law, women’s status in Islam, and a general introduction
to succession laws in Islam in order to finally understand women’s right of inheritance.
            There are four sources from which Islamic laws and legislations are taken: the Holy Quran,
the Sunna of the prophet Mohammad, Qiyas, and Ijma. The Holy Quran is the words of God which
were revealed to the prophet Mohammad over a period of twenty three years in both Makka and
Almadinah. The Quran consists of 6219 verses. “About five hundred of these verses are legalistic in
tone and some eighty verses deal exclusively with legal topics.” (Radford 2). In Islam the Holy
Quran is the main sourcebook of all Islamic values; “These are revelations of the wise Scripture, a
guidance and mercy to the good, those who establish worship and pay the poor-due and have sure
faith in the Hereafter.” (31: 2-4).
The second source of the Islamic law is the Sunna of Prophet Mohammad. It came mainly to
explain and clarify the rules mentioned in the Quran. The Sunna comprises of “the sayings of the
Prophet; his deeds; his silent or tacit approval of certain acts which he had acknowledged of”
(Radford 2). God, in the Holly Quran, orders Muslims to treat the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad
as a source of the Islamic laws and legislations, God says “And whatsoever the messenger
(Mohammad) giveth you, take it. And whatsoever he forbiddeth, abstain (from it) and keep your
duty to Allah.” (59: 7)
            Qiyas, the third source of the Islamic law, is defined as “establishing the relevance of ruling
in one case to another case because of a similarity in the attribute (reason or cause) upon which the
ruling was based” (Esposito 7).
            The fourth source of the Islamic law is Ijma. Ijma was developed after the death of Prophet
Mohammad as a result of loss of his guidance in legislative issues. It began as a way for solving
uprising problems and making decisions depending on the approval of the majority. After years of
using Ijma it was finally defined as the agreement of the jurists of a particular age on a specific
issue.
            Both Qiyas and Ijma involve the application of human reasoning and interpretation of the
Quran and the Sunnah, they were founded to meet the needs of the developing Islamic society, and
they both have played an important role in the development of the Islamic society. 
                       One of the major areas on which Islam focused and insisted on changing, through the
sources of the Islamic laws, is women’s role and their status in the society. This focus came as a
result of the poor status which women had in pre-Islamic societies and the strict conditions put on
them by men in the society. Therefore, Islam gave women an honorable and dignified role in the
society, and as a way to guarantee the application of these rights God issued many rules through
Quranic verses and the Sunnah of  the Prophet Mohammed discussing women’s role, rights, and
status in order to protect them from being discriminated.
            Islam gave women many new rights and improved other rights. For example, Islam gave a
woman her right of inheritance, improved her status, and increased her importance in the family.
            The main goal of the Islamic succession law, as God says in the Quran, is that wealth and
property don’t stay in the hands of few people. God says, “… That it (property) become not a
commodity between the rich among you” (59: 7). Furthermore, as a result of Islam’s interest in

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giving each person in the family his or her right of inheritance, succession rules in Islam came very
specific and obvious to fit all varieties of families in different cases.
            Succession law in Islam reflects the structure of the family: the stronger the bond is the
greater the right of inheritance is.
According to the Islamic law of inheritance, the individual’s sex, age, or order of birth or
martial status does not constitute a barrier to inheritance… In this system no distinction was
made between father and mother, firs-born child and last-born sons… whatever difference
in share there was among the hires, it was intended to correspond with their respective
responsibility and obligations, according to the lineal proximity. The reasoning back of this
was that if during his lifetime the deceased were in need, the closest relatives –children and
parents- would be called upon first to support before those less closely related, such as
grandchildren and grandparents. (Tokhais 205)         
            The property of the decedent person is divided between the hirers after all his debts are
paid, his testament is applied, and all expenses of his funeral are paid.  
                        “Rights of inheritance rest upon the two principal grounds of marriage and blood
relationship with the decedent” (Coulson 10). As a result, and because women are a main part of
the Muslim family, women are included in the Islamic law of inheritance.
            A woman’s right of inheritance varies depending on her relation to the decedent person. In
some cases a female in the family inherits less than a male inherits. In other cases, a female might
inherit as much as a male. And in other cases, she might inherit more than a male. 
                        The first female Quranic hirer is the wife. A wife inherits one-forth of her husband’s
property if they had no children and one-eight of her husband’s property if they had children or
children’s son. “However, the wife’s portion is a collective one. In the case of polygamous union,
the wives share the one-eight or the one-fourth equally” (Esposito 41).
            When a decedent is survived by a daughter, she also gets a share of her father’s estate. A
daughter’s share of the estate differs according to the number of brothers and sisters she has. There
is a clear rule for the daughter’s share of the estate in each case; “Allah ordains concerning your
children that the male shall have a share equivalent to that of two females. If the children are
females numbering two or more, their portion is two-thirds of the inheritance. If there is a single
female child her portion is one-half” (4: 2). This means that if the decedent has only one daughter
she inherits one-half of the estate. If the decedent is survived by the daughter and a son, the son
gets two-thirds and the daughter gets one-third of the estate. If the decedent is survived by two or
more daughters, they share two-thirds of the estate equally and the rest goes to other male
relatives.
            An example of a case where a male inheritor gets more share than the female is the one
mentioned above, that is when the decedent is survived by sons and daughters. In this case the son
always gets as much as the two daughters’ share of the estate.
One case in which a female gets greater share of the decedent’s estate happens if the
decedent had a daughter in addition to his wife and his father were still alive. His wife gets one-
eight of the estate, the daughter gets one-half, and the father gets 9/24th of the decedent’s estate.
Here, both the wife and the daughter got more than the family.
The mother of the decedent is also one of the relatives who are specific in the Quran. “If the
decedent dies and is survived by only one sibling, if any, the decedent’s mother’s share is one-third
of the estate. If the decedent in this case is survived by two or more siblings, the mother’s share is
one-sixth” (Radford 12). The Quranic share of the decedent’s father is also one-sixth, but changes in
some cases. Therefore, a mother’s share of the decedent’s estate can be equal to the father’s, this
means that in this case a female relative gets equal share of a male relative’s share.
The female inheritors mentioned above are those who have a specific share in the Quran. On
the other hand, there are other female relatives who may inherit from the decedent and are not
Quranic hirers. For example, if the decedent has no mother, his grandmother is allotted one-sixth
of the decedent’s estate. If there were more than one grandmother of the same degree they share

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the allotted amount. Another example is if the decedent has a sister (or more) and is not survived
by a child, agnatic grandchild, or male agnatic ancestor, she gets one-sixth of the decedent’s estate
(Radford 12-13).  
The reason which for men usually get a greater share of the decedent’s estate is because men
are always obligated to provide women with their needs. Women, on the other hand don’t have to
spend any amount of their money. For example, the brother is responsible for caring for his sisters’
needs after their father dies and has to provide them with what they need, from their need for food
and drink to their need for education. If the daughter is married, she doesn’t need to spend any of
her money either, for it is her husband’s responsibility to cover her needs. In general, it is always
men’s responsibility to look after women and provide their needs. 
In comparison with other religions, Islam was the only religion to include females of the
family in dividing the decedent’s estate. In Judaism, for example, women are excluded from the
Jewish laws of inheritance in almost every case. For example, if the decedent has a daughter and a
son or a son’s children, the son or his children take all the estate and nothing goes to the daughter,
the mother, or other female relatives.
In conclusion, Islam has raised women’s status in the society by issuing many laws to
protect her and give her an honorable and dignified life. One of the most important changes that
Islam made on the society is giving women the right of inheritance. A woman’s share of
inheritance might be more, less, or equal to a man’s share, depending on the case and the number
of the survived relatives and their relation to the decedent. Furthermore, Islam is the only religion
that gives women fair rights of inheritance.
Bibliography 

– Coulson, N. J. Succession in the Muslim Family.Cambridge


            University Press, 1976.

– Esposito, John L. Women in Muslim Family Law.Syracuse


            University Press, 1982.

–  Radford, Mary. “The Inheritance Rights of Women under Jewish and Islamic Law.”
Online posting. (n.d.). 21 February 2006.
<http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lwsch/journals/bciclr/23_2/01_TXT.htm&gt;.
– Schacht, Joseph. An Introduction to the Islamic Law.Oxford
            University Press, 1964.

                
– Tokhais, Ibrahim Abdulrahman. Social Justice in Islamic Law. University Microfilms
            International, 1985.   

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