Why does son receives double the share of a daughter?
It is often stated in modern times that Islam oppress women by giving them half of their
inheritance than that of men. Being Muslims we have a strong belief in ALLAH Almighty’s
immutable features and this belief keeps such objections from affecting our
thoughts and heart. The
Glorious Quran says;
"ALLAH Almighty is no oppressor
for His slaves." (Surah Al-Hajj: 10)
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَظۡلِمُ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٖۖ
Indeed! ALLAH Almighty is not unjust
even as much as an atom’s weight (Surah An-Nisa: 40)
Muslim believes
that ALLAH Almighty is a just judge and He does not do any kind of injustice to
humans or any of His creatures. The statements of the Quran give us a firm
conviction in ALLAH Almighty’s decisions. Therefore, such arguments or
complaints by Non-Muslims cannot not shake our belief but rather calls for a
critical analysis of inheritance law description by the Glorious Quran.
The distinction in inheritance is not because of the Gender of the heir
but of a Logical Reason
First, understand
the amount of inheritance according to the level of relationship to the dead.
Regardless of gender in heir, the closer the kinship to the deceased, the more
a person will get in inheritance. For example, an deceased woman's daughter
receives half of the inheritance while the husband of an deceased woman only
receives 1/4 (one-fourth). This is because of the level of closed relationship with deceased woman. But when we talk about the distinction of inheritance between
siblings, it comes to half for daughters by father. The
logic behind this difference is;
Financial Responsibility
The male is responsible for the financial service of his wife, whereas, for his married sister's financial maintenance, her husband or son is responsible. So, the woman gets favor in every practical purpose of life even though she is not responsible to spend her inheritance's money on household expenditures, and is hers to spend as she pleases. In Islam, it is the man who bears the financial burden before a woman is married the father and brother and after she is married it is the husband and son who look after her lodging, clothing, and all financial aspects. In the religion of Islam men treat women like "The Queen" who has no worries of financial difficulty.
To make it more considerable, I would like to add an example and your mind will understand it correctly. For instance, a father died and after giving the inheritance part to all the deserving relatives of the deceased father. The property of 60,000 PKR left. This portion is for daughter and son, as the deceased father had one daughter and one son so, the son will get double 40,000 PKR than the daughter who will get 20,000 PKR. Is it injustice? No, because the son has the financial burden of his family and he is going to spend 90% of it on his family, while the daughter is just like the princess and she has no financial burden and the 20,000 PKR is only for her. Therefore every Commandment of ALLAH Almighty has wisdom and logic behind it and we must analyze them and learn good acts from Islam.
The most specific share division of Inheritance from the Glorious Quran;
“Allah instructs you concerning your
children: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females? But if there
are [only] daughters, two or more, for them is two-thirds of one's estate. And
if there is only one, for her is half. And for one's parents, to each one of
them is a sixth of his estate if he left children. But if he had no children
and the parents [alone] inherit from him, then for his mother is one third. And
if he had brothers [or sisters], for his mother is a sixth, after any bequest
he [may have] made or debt. Your parents or your children - you know not which
of them are nearest to you in benefit. [These shares are] an obligation
[imposed] by Allah. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.” (Surah An-Nisa:
11)
“And for you is half of what your
wives leave if they have no child. But if they have a child, for you is
one-fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they [may have] made or debt.
And for the wives is one-fourth if you leave no child. But if you leave a
child, then for them is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may
have] made or debt. And if a man or woman leaves neither ascendants nor
descendants but has a brother or a sister, then for each one of them is a
sixth. But if they are more than two, they share a third, after any bequest which
was made or debt, as long as there is no detriment [caused]. [This is] an
ordinance from Allah, and Allah is Knowing and Forbearing.” (Surah An-Nisa: 12
There are several
verses of the Glorious Quran that give instructions on inheritance on several
bases and in some cases, women get an equal share to men. For example;
·
If the deceased person leaves a mother, a father, and a
son's son
·
If the deceased person leaves a blood brother and
sister
·
If the deceased person leaves blood brothers,
sisters, or full sisters
·
If the deceased person leaves a maternal grandmother, a
father, and a son's son
·
If the deceased person leaves a husband, a mother, two blood sisters (A half sister having the same mother but a different father), and a full brother
There are also some
cases where women get more than men in inheritance. For example;
·
If the deceased person leaves a husband and one daughter
·
If the deceased person leaves a husband and two
daughters
·
If the deceased person leaves a daughter and maternal
uncle
Some other verses
are also for inheritance distribution. For example, in;
·
Surah Al- Baqarah Verse: 180
·
Surah Al-Baqarah Verse: 240
·
Surah An-Nisa Verse: 19
·
Surah An-Nisa Verse: 33
·
Surah An-Nisa Verse: 79