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Womens' Rights in Islam
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".
This discrimination between the shares of the son and the daughter 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)". The verse simply means that the daughter’s of the inheritance is half that of the son’s.
Major Misunderstanding : Are inheritance laws in Islam unfair to women ? :
Does that seem unjust to you…then let me clarify some points before we judge.
First : In Islam, the wife doesn't have to provide any financial support to her family. Only the man does.
When a woman is married she receives her obligatory bridal money (dower) while the man is the one who has to pay it. Once she moves to his house, the husband has to provide 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". (Surah 65:7)
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.
Also, In Islamic law as a whole, here are some of the women’s financial rights:
1. On marriage she is entitled to receive a bridal money (dower) and this is her own property.
2. Even if the wife is rich, she is not required to spend a single penny for household; the full responsibility for her food, clothing, housing, medications and recreation etc. are her husband's.
3. Any income the wife earns through investment or working is entirely her own.
4. In case of divorce, if any deferred part of the Mohr is left unpaid, it becomes due immediately.
5. The divorcee woman is entitled to get maintenance from husband during her waiting period (iddat).
Thus one can see that men need extra share to discharge the family responsibility, social responsibility.
Second : The distinction is not 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.
“and as for his parents, each of them shall have the sixth of what he has left if he has a child" ( Surah AlNissa:11 )
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: “and if a man or a woman leaves property to be inherited by neither parents nor offspring, and he (or she) has a brother or a sister, then each of them two shall have the sixth, but if they are more than that, they shall be sharers in the third after (payment of) any bequest that may have been bequeathed or a debt that does not harm (others); this is an ordinance from Allah: and Allah is Knowing, Forbearing." ( Surah AlNissa:12).
Thereby, 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". (Surah AlNissa:11)
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.
Third : according to the Qur'an 12 persons have been declared as share-holders in respect of inheritance where only four persons are men and the rest eight are women. That means that Islam has shown its utmost seriousness about ensuring the portion of women, as they had been the most deprived ones before the advent of Islam.
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