Sunday, April 06, 2008

Concerning Islamic Laws of Inheritance


ISLAMIC STUDIES ACADEMY
Mid-Term Assignment Spring 2008

Course Code:
FQH 202
Course Title:
FIQH OF MU’AAMALAAT - IV
Instructor:
Abdus Salam Ghouse
MA, College of Hadeeth
Islamic University of Madeenah


Assignment 1:

Is women's inheritance in Islam really unfair? Discuss this issue and rectify the doubts.

Answer:

The rights of woman in the western world compared with rights of Muslim women 1400 years ago. In the west, one can legally write a will to a dog while leaving the wife nothing. In Islam, the right of the wife and other relatives are protected. No one can cancel them. Men are responsible for the maintenance of women. Hence, the son of the deceased is responsible for his mother and his sister since the father died. Men do not always have greater inheritance than women. Siblings (a brother and a sister) of the deceased gets an equal share of 1/6th each. (Qur’an 4:11)

“…it is inaccurate to say that the female invariably receives less than the male counterpart. Nor does the standard explanation of the sexually differentiated shares seem satisfactory. The female uterine sister inherits equally with her uterine brother, and so does the mother with the father of the deceased. It is the daughter and the germane or consanguine sister who receive only half as much as their male counterparts when they inherit jointly.”

“The case of the wife is particularly interesting. Her share is on half of what the husband would inherit from her, were he the survivor. The full implication of this provision must be seen in the light of the fact that the husband and the wife hold their properties and possessions independently of each other; between them there is no mandatory community of property. It is an interestingly verifiable proposition that the Muslim husband usually owns more than his wife and is therefore likely to leave more behind than she would, if he were to survive her. If he survives her, which is less likely from a demographic standpoint, his arithmetically larger share of inheritance – the one half of her independently held and owned property – may in fact be equal to or even less than her arithmetically smaller share, the one-fourth of his independently held and owned property. This is assuming that there are no children involved; otherwise, is one-half becomes one-fourth and her one fourth an eight. At any rate, the two shares are arithmetically different; one share is the double of the other. Yet the value of a larger share (the husband’s ) of a small estate (the wife’s) may be equal to or perhaps even less than the value of a small share (the wife’s ) of a large estate (the husband’s). The end result here would seem that, while the two shares are arithmetically different, they are not necessarily unequal in the final analysis. And even if they appear mathematically unequal, Muslims would most likely contend that they are morally equitable in view of the husband’s varied financial duties, the demographic facts and the non community of property.”

“…In the Islamic scheme of society, women are free from the usual economic responsibility. They are not legally required to provide for any person, not even for themselves. IF they have no independent resources, they are to be fully maintained by their able male relatives. The female is always assured by law of adequate care. Even the wealthy wife is to be maintained by the husband, the needy sister by the brother, the mother by the son, the daughter by the father, etc. Every living person needs subsistence, and every able male is held responsible for his own and possibly for that of other dependents. But not every deceased person leaves property for inheritance. This may suggest that the male is more likely to be ‘liable’ than ‘beneficiary’. His obligations to relatives, male and female alike, may well exceed what he could possibly inherit from any of them. When he sometimes receives a larger share of inheritance, it is probably in recognition of his manifold obligation and in partial compensation therefore. The whole scheme seems so designed as to ensure equity. When a larger share of the property is allocated to the exclusively liable male, who may be responsible for an entire household or perhaps beyond, and a smaller share is allocated to the ‘carefree’ and economically ‘non responsible’ female, the allocation cannot be easily called discrimatory against women. It would be discrimatory indeed if men and women were given the same of equal financial responsibilities. Since they are not, the sociological concept of differentiation or the Islamic term of equity characterizes the Islamic system more accurately than discrimination.”

“However, the Muslim woman, by receiving a smaller share of the property than the man’s , is not in fact being denied the fruits of any effort on her part or the produce of any of her labor. It is not that she earned something which is being withheld or taken away form her. Whatever she takes of the property of the deceased relatives is in return for nothing material she has done, or contributed. She inherits our of compassion or kindness, so to speak, and not because she has discharged or will discharge any financial duty to any relative.” [1]






Assignment 2:

Mention the merits of laws of inheritance in Islam and prove that they are just and rational for humanity.

It ensures that relatives are given their due share and right while in the world today, non Islamic systems do not protect this right. Hence one can find deranged people leaving wealth to their dogs, house, or a tree, or strange lovers, to the exclusion of their family members.

It distributes inheritance from the perspective of equitability, not necessarily from the perspective of equality. Meaning, one who has the most responsibility receives the most allocation of resources. This equitable concept is acceptable in todays economic minds. This is because, Islamic law has assigned different roles to different members of the family.

This assignment of roles to different members of family is according to the very nature that Allah created men and women. Biological, hormonal, musculoskeletal, neurological, psychological differences between male and female have just been recently discovered and accepted by people of science whereas this delicate difference has been clearly demarcated by Islam by assigning different yet complimentary roles for them fourteen hundred years ago. The best selling book Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” is a contemporary testament to this fundamental difference.






[1] The Family Structure in Islam. Hammudah Abd al Ati. Pp. 267-270. American Trust Publications.