Inheritance
The difference between the man and the woman in their respective shares
in inheritance established by Allah's statement: "
Allah commands you as regards your children's
(inheritance); to the male, a portion equal
to that of two females. 26,
is clearly due to the difference in the duties and costs that each has
to cope with by virtue of the Islamic teachings (shar'a)".
For example, if a man dies leaving a son and a daughter, the son gets married
and pays the obligatory bridal money (dower) to the bride and as soon as
they live together, he has to provide and pay for their living expenses.
On the other hand, when his sister gets married, she receives the bridal
money from her bridegroom and when they live together, the husband provides
for her without her paying a single penny, even if she is among the richest
of people. Poor or rich, her living costs are estimated in proportion to
her husband's financial ability. The Qur'an puts it thus:"
Let the rich man spend according to his means". 27To
simplify matters, if the father leaves a wealth of about 150,000 dollars,
the son would get 100,000 and the daughter would get 50,000 dollars. Then
the son pays the bridal money (dower) gives presents and furnishes a flat
which may cost at least 25,000 dollars. If the daughter gets married and
has the bridal money and the presents, she would get another 25,000. This
makes them about even.
But this is not all; the man's duties and spending increase as he provides
for his children, in some cases his ageing parents, his brothers and sisters
who have no income of their own and no one else to provide for them, and
further still his relatives who are in similar circumstances-all by virtue
of the Islamic Teachings (shar'a) and under certain conditions. For her
part, though, the woman is not commanded by the shar'a to furnish aid unless
she chooses to do so out of good manners and morals.
Nor is the distinction in any sense absolute. Sometimes the woman's share
in the inheritance is equal to that of the man's. For instance, when the
two parents inherit from their children; the Qur'an rules that: For parents,
a sixth share of inheritance to each if the deceased left children. 28
The reason in this case is that the parent's needs are often similar. If
siblings inherit from a brother who has neither parents nor children, the
Qur'an establishes that: " 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 them gets
a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third". 29Thereby,
the sister by the mother gets a sixth, which is the same as the brother
by the same mother. If there are more than two siblings, they inherit a
third to be distributed equally among them. All this is to say that equality
of inheritance exists in many cases, and they are well-known to jurisprudents
and experts in these matters.
More conclusively, there are cases in which the woman gets a bigger share
than the man. For instance, if a woman dies leaving a husband, mother and
two brothers and one sister by her mother, the sister alone gets a sixth;
whereas only one sixth is given to the two brothers. Also if a woman dies
leaving a husband, a full sister and a brother by her father, the husband
gets half the inheritance and the sister the other half, whereas the half-brother
gets nothing being merely an agnate. But if the half sibling is a sister
and not a brother, she gets a sixth, as sustenance.
One more case where the woman gets more than the man follows Ibn "Abbas's
interpretation of the verse: " If no children, and
the parents are the (only)
heirs, the mother has a third". 30
This is means for Ibn Abbas that if a woman dies leaving a husband and
her two parents, the husband receives a half, the mother a third and the
father a sixth. Ibn Hazm relates this statement to Ibn "Abbas via Abdul-Raziq,
and to Ali ibn Abi Talib via of Abi "Uwana and to Mu'adh ibn Jabal who
were Companions of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), known
also as experts on such matters. Ibn Hazim relates it also to Shuraih and
to Dawud Al-Zahiry, among the jurisprudents, and he quotes the companion
Ibn Mas'ud's axiom on the matter: "Allah would not like to see me prefer
a father to a mother." Other authorities who concurred are Companions such
as `Umar, `Uthman, and Zaid ibn Thabit. From their followers, there are
Al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin and Al-Nakh'i. Among the jurisprudents, there are Abu
Hanifa, Malik and Al-Shafi, may Allah be pleased with them all.