One of the most important and main differences between the Quran 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." 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."
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.
Among the pagan Arabs before Islam, inheritance rights were
confined exclusively to the male relatives. The Quran abolished all these
unjust customs and gave all the female relatives inheritance shares:
"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" (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 (Qur'an 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 legislations 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. 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.
