Islam is the only religion that does not deprive women of the right of inheritance, but guarantees the right of women to inherit. Islam brought about a huge transformation regarding women’s right to inheritance and gave women the right to inherit and abolished all the cruel laws of the Jahiliyyah era (which were based on tribal beliefs and customs).
Islam not only legislated the right of inheritance for women, but also prohibited the practice of women being inherited, which was common in that era. For this reason, the law of inheritance is among the issues that have been taken into consideration in Islam.
Is the law of inheritance unfair?
Among the laws of inheritance, a question that often comes to mind and is spoken by some people is that in Islam, why is the inheritance of a man twice as much as that of a woman? Isn’t this a matter of discrimination and oppression of women?
In response, it should be said that Islam has not established the law of inheritance based on being male or female. Rather it is based on the financial responsibility and position of the two of them in the family and the responsibilities and duties assigned to them.
Inheritance laws in the Islamic legal system are set based on the nature and social status of both men and women, and it is not a criterion of being a woman or a man.
And the assumption that a woman always inherits half of a man because of her gender is due to the lack of study and research in the laws of inheritance in Islam.
Because sometimes the share of inheritance is equal for men and women. Like the inheritance share of the parents when it is accompanied by the child of the deceased, where the parents inherit the same, or the deceased has only relatives related to the mother.
In addition, in some cases the contribution of women is more than that of men. For example, if the heirs of the deceased belong to the parents and the husband, where the mother inherits one-third and the father one-sixth of the estate, or the case where the wife is accompanied by several brothers and sisters.
inheritance is not value and virtue
In all cases where human nature is the criterion of legislation, Islam has established completely equal rights for men and women; Such as: freedom in faith, reward and agony, education, job, marriage, etc. The only criterion of superiority in this Sharia is the dignity that is obtained through piety Not with property.
If a man has more piety, he is superior to a woman, and if a woman has more piety, she is superior. The share of inheritance is not value and virtue; Rather, it brings responsibility and cannot express the position of women in Islam.
The result of the explanations given is that because men’s expenses and financial needs are more than women’s, Islam has made a man’s share of inheritance more than a woman’s, so that according to the principle of dividing wealth based on needs (everyone should receive according to their needs), balance between income and Their expenses should be established.