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One of the most important differences between the Qur'an and the Bible
is their attitude towards female inheritance of the property of a deceased
relative. The Biblical attitude has been succinctly described by Rabbi
Epstein: "The continuous and unbroken tradition since the Biblical days
gives the female members of the household, wife and daughters, no right
of succession to the family estate. In the more primitive scheme of succession,
the female members of the family were considered part of the estate and
as remote from the legal personality of an heir as the slave. Whereas by
Mosaic enactment the daughters were admitted to succession in the event
of no male issue remained, the wife was not recognized as heir even in
such conditions." [44] Why were the female members of the family considered
part of the family estate? Rabbi Epstein has the answer: "They are owned
--before marriage, by the father; after marriage, by the husband." [45]
The Biblical rules of inheritance are outlined in Numbers 27:1-11. A
wife is given no share in her husband's estate, while he is her first heir,
even before her sons. A daughter can inherit only if no male heirs exist.
A mother is not an heir at all while the father is. Widows and daughters,
in case male children remained, were at the mercy of the male heirs for
provision. That is why widows and orphan girls were among the most destitute
members of the Jewish society.
Christianity has followed suit for long time. Both the ecclesiastical
and civil laws of Christendom barred daughters from sharing with their
brothers in the father's patrimony. Besides, wives were deprived of any
inheritance rights. These iniquitous laws survived till late in the last
century [46].
Among the pagan Arabs before Islam, inheritance rights were confined
exclusively to the male relatives. The Qur'an abolished all these unjust
customs and gave all the female relatives inheritance shares:
"There is a share for men and a share for women from what is left by
parents and those nearest related, whether, the property be small or large - a
legal share." (Qur'an 4:7)
Muslim mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters had received inheritance
rights thirteen hundred years before Europe recognized that these rights
even existed. The division of inheritance is a vast subject with an enormous
amount of details (4:7,11,12,176). The general rule is that the female
share is half the male's except the cases in which the mother receives
equal share to that of the father. This general rule if taken in isolation
from other legislation concerning men and women may seem unfair. In order
to understand the rationale behind this rule, one must take into account
the fact that the financial obligations of men in Islam far exceed those
of women (see the "Wife's property?" section). A bridegroom must provide
his bride with a marriage gift. This gift becomes her exclusive property
and remains so even if she is later divorced. The bride is under no obligation
to present any gifts to her groom. Moreover, the Muslim husband is charged
with the maintenance of his wife and children. The wife, on the other hand,
is not obliged to help him in this regard. Her property and earnings are
for her use alone except what she may voluntarily offer her husband. Besides,
one has to realize that Islam vehemently advocates family life. It strongly
encourages youth to get married, discourages divorce, and does not regard
celibacy as a virtue. Therefore, in a truly Islamic society, family life
is the norm and single life is the rare exception. That is, almost all
marriage-aged women and men are married in an Islamic society. In light
of these facts, one would appreciate that Muslim men, in general, have
greater financial burdens than Muslim women and thus inheritance rules
are meant to offset this imbalance so that the society lives free of all
gender or class wars. After a simple comparison between the financial rights
and duties of Muslim women, one British Muslim woman has concluded that
Islam has treated women not only fairly but generously [47].
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