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The
Injunctions of the Qur'an
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Ahadith of the Holy Prophet
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Rights in the Light of Qur'an and Hadith
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Her
Rights in Other Nations
I ‑ THE INJUNCTIONS OF THE QUR'AN
Verses of
the Holy Book regarding the rights of woman to inherit and succeed are:
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From what
is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men
and a share for women, whether the property be small or large, ‑ a
determinate share. (4:7)
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Allah
(thus) directs you as regards your children's (Inheritance):to the
male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two
or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one,
her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to
each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents
are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased left
brothers (or sisters), the mother has a sixth. (The distribution in
all cases is) after the payment of legacies and debts. Ye know not
whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit.
These are settled portions ordained by Allah and Allah is All‑Knowing,
All‑Wise. (4:11)
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In what
your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if
they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and
debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no
child. But if ye leave a child, they get, an eighth; after payment of
legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose . inheritance is in
question has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a
brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more
than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts;
so that no loss is caused (to anyone). Thus is it ordained by Allah,
and Allah is All‑Knowing, Most Forbearing. (4:12)
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They ask
thee for a legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) about those who
leave no descendants or ascendants a• heirs. If it is a man that dies,
leaving a sister but no child, she shall have half the inheritance: if
(such a deceased was) a woman, who left no child, her brother takes
her inheritance: if there are two sisters, they shall have two‑thirds
of the inheritance (between them):if there are brothers and sisters,
(they share),, the male having twice the share of the female. Thus
doth Allah make clear to you (His law), lest ye err. And Allah hath
knowledge of all things. (4:176)
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II ‑ AHADITH OF THE HOLY PROPHET
Ahadith of
the Prophet of Islam on the subject of woman's rights to inheritance are
as follows:‑
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Jaber
reported that the wife of Sa'ad‑b‑Rabiy came with her two daughters by
Sa'ad‑b‑Rabiy to the Messenger of Allah. She said: O Messenger of
Allah! They are the two daughters of Sa'ad. Their father was martyred
with you on the day of Uhud, and their uncle has taken their property.
He has not left any property for them, and they cannot be married
unless they have got some property. He said: Allah will decide about
that. Then the verse of inheritance (AI‑Qur'an 4: 11) was revealed. So
the Prophet sent for their uncle and said: Give the two daughters of
Sa'ad two‑third and give their mother one ‑eighth, and what remains is
for you. (Abu Daud, Ibn Majah, Tirmizi, Ahmad)
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Sa'ad‑b‑Abi
Waqqas reported: The Holy Prophet came to me while I was ill. He
asked: Have you made a will? "Yes", said I. He asked: to what extent?
I replied: To, the extent of whole of my property in the way of Allah.
He asked: What then have you left for your children? (Sa'ad had only
two daughters) I replied: They are rich in wealth. He said: Bequeath
one‑tenth. Then I continued to think it little till he said: Bequeath
one-third and one‑third is too much ‑ (Tirmizi). In a narration of
Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet said: That you should leave your heirs
free from want is certainly better than that you should leave them
poor to beg of men. (Mishkat‑ul‑Masabih)
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Waselah‑b‑Asqa'a
reported that the Messenger of Allah said: A woman shall get three
inheritances ‑ (from) one whom she emancipated, one whom she picked up
and her child about whom she imprecated. (Tirmizi, Abu Daud, Ibn
Majah)
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III ‑ RIGHTS IN THE LIGHT OF QUR'AN AND HADITH
In the
light of the Qur'an and Sunnah, the woman's rights of Inheritance are
discussed as follows:‑
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No woman
had right to inherit in pre‑ Islamic Arabia and only the male adults
who could take up. arms in a war had the right to inherit the estate.
It comes down to us from the authentic Hadith literature that a
Companion of the Prophet (may Allah's peace be upon him) died in the
Battle of Uhud leaving behind a widow and two daughters. The family
was rich but after the death of the head of the family, his brother
took over the estate in accordance with pagan custom and left nothing
for the widow and her orphan daughters. So in this pitiable plight,
the widow along with her daughters approached the Prophet and apprised
him of the situation. It is against this background that the law of
inheritance contained in chapter 4 of the Qur'an was revealed which
conferred upon the women for the first time in Arabia the rights of
inheritance.
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Prophet
Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him) was so much conscious of the
rights of the heirs regarding inheritance that he advised Hadrat Sa'ad‑b‑Abi
Waqqas who wanted to dispose of the whole of his property (in the way
of Allah) not to make will for more than one‑third and to leave the
remaining two‑third for his two daughters and other heirs.
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Woman is
entitled to share inheritance in different capacities like daughter,
mother, wife, sister etc. Her share in different positions is
discussed briefly as follows. For details please consult books on
Islamic Law and Fiqh:
a) Share‑as
a daughter: Where the deceased leaves behind him sons and
daughters both, each daughter gets equal to one half of the share
of each son. If the deceased leaves only one daughter and no son, the
daughter is entitled to half of the inheritance. 1n case of two
or more daughters but no son, the daughters would get two‑third of
inheritance and share it equally between them. (Al‑Qur'an 4:11)
b) Share
as a Mother: If the deceased leaves a child and parents, each of
the parents, mother and father, would inherit one sixth share of the
heritage. If the deceased leaves no children and no brothers or
sisters and his parents are the only heirs, mother would get one third
and father the remaining two third of inheritance. In case where the
deceased leaves no child but leaves parents and brothers and sisters,
the mother would get one sixth share of heritage. (Al‑Qur'an 4:11)
c) Share as a wife:
Where the
husband dies leaving no child but his wife, the wife would get
one‑fourth. of his estate. If he leaves child or children along with
wife, the wife would get one eighth. In case of wives more than one,
they would share equally in one-fourth or one‑eighth. (AI‑Qur'an
4:12)
d)
Share as a
sister. If the deceased is not survived by parents and children
but leaves behind uterine brother and a sister (brother and sister on
mother's side) each would get one‑sixth and in case of more such
brothers and sisters, they would share in one‑third. (Al‑Qur'an 4:12)
Where the
deceased leaves no parents and no children but leaves behind full or
consanguine sister, she would be entitled to one‑half of the estate
and in case of two or more such sisters, they would share in two‑third
of the estate. But if there are brothers and sisters both, the share
of each male would be equal to two females.
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It has
been noticed that generally the male takes a share double that of a
female in his own category. So an explanation of this inequality is
necessary.
Islam has
placed the responsibility of earning livelihood for the family on the
shoulders of the male members while the females have been exempted
from this burden. A woman when she is unmarried lives with her parents
and her father is responsible for providing all her expenses and in
case of the death of her father, her brothers become responsible for
leer maintenance and also for meeting her marriage expenses. After
marriage she is entitled to maintenance from her husband. In addition
to food, clothing and residence, all her expenses are met by her
husband. If the husband is poor and she spends out of her personal
property for her family, she is entitled to take it back from her
husband, when the latter is in easy circumstances. Besides
maintenance, the woman is also entitled to receive dower from the
husband which is the most essential feature of a Muslim marriage.
There is no upper limit of dower and she can demand any amount of
dower while entering into a marriage contract. Amounts of dower are
normally fantastic in Muslim marriages and the contracted dower, how
much it may be, has to be paid by the husband and in case of his
death, from his estate as a debt. In old age also the entitlement of
the woman for maintenance continues and if her husband dies and she is
unable to live on her share of the estate of the deceased, she can
claim maintenance from her children. Thus it is seen that a woman has
practically very few material needs to satisfy on her own account as
compared with a man who has been saddled with very heavy economic
obligations and liabilities. In this situation there is ample
justification for giving a man greater share in inheritance.
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IV ‑ HER RIGHTS IN OTHER NATIONS
In the
non‑Muslim nations and communities of the ancient and medieval ages, the
woman enjoyed practically no rights whatsoever of inheritance and
succession to property, movable or immovable, of their close ascendants
or descendants. Succession among the pre‑Islamic Arabs and in many of
the neighbouring societies was confined only to able male relations who
were capable to take up arms and defend the motherland against foreign
aggression. Wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, minors and incapable and
infirm male heirs had no right in the estate of the deceased. In Jewish
law, daughters were excluded' by the sons and mothers inherited nothing
from their children. Daughters had no right even in the property of
their mothers. Among the Hindus of India, sons exclude the daughters
from inheritance. The widows and other females have no absolute rights
in the estate. In the law of inheritance, distinction is also made
between self‑acquired and ancestral properties. In England and Europe,
the laws of primogeniture were mostly in vogue. According to these laws,
male line was preferred over the female and the eldest over the
youngest. In the inheritance laws a distinction was also made between
real and personal properties.
It is
with the rise of the modern civilization in the 19th and 20th century
that these disparities and inequalities have been removed and the laws
of inheritance have been made more human and realistic. On the other
hand, Islam introduced its laws of inheritance some fourteen hundred
years ago which contains no such inequalities and irregularities and
confers the most fair and equitable rights on the females and other
weaker sections of society.
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