Women’s rights of inheritance: An overview in the present era

Abstract

Islam is the final divine religion and its teachings are natural and justice based. One of its teachings is the right of inheritance. Inheritance is very important in every human life. After the death of a Muslim man or woman, his/her decedents and other relatives become entitled the inheritance. In Surah Al-Nisa, the division of inheritance has been briefly described. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) implemented this divine rule in his life and the Khulafa-e-Rashidin also followed and implemented this rule in their period very well. So there is no conflict among the Muslims about the law of inheritance. In subcontinent, after British rule, some social and ethical problems and issue regarding law of inheritance appeared. To violate this law some greedy people made different ways to deprive their relatives from the inheritance e.g. marriage with Quran, forced marriage, agricultural land deceiving, usurper on trade and business, divorce and late decision of honorable courts made a social role in deprivation of inheritance. This paper aims to diagnose the reasons of these problems and make suggestions to control these issues by the implementation of law of inheritance in the light of Quran o Sunnah and the constitution of Pakistan.