Kerala Muslim Women Gather To Propose Amendment In Property Law: 10 Things To Know

The rules of property inheritance of Muslim women are different from the Constitution as the community follows Muslim Personal Law. Recently, a gathering of the community in Kerala talked about the financial responsibilities of women and their inheritance.

The inheritance of women in all communities has been a topic of discussion for years. Earlier, the daughters were not eligible to inherit their father's property and the absence of a male heir caused a lot of tension in families. In Muslim Personal Law too, there are different inheritance rules for men and women. Recently, a gathering of Muslim men and women was held in Kozhikode to discuss whether the laws of inheritance in Islam require modifications or not as they seem unequal and unjust to women. The gathering included Muslims from all peers of society who put their opinions forward.

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10 Things About Muslim Women Inheritance Rules

1. The Forum For Muslim Women's Gender Justice meeting was attended by 300 Muslim men and women at the Kozhikode Town Hall with the demand to amend Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.
2. Wisdom Global Islamic Mission's youth wing called Wisdom Youth questioned whether Shariat should be corrected as it is discriminating for women and divides inheritance unjustly between male and female heirs.
3. One of the scholars present in the meeting told the criteria for the division of property as per Shariat. He said that inheritance is not divided according to gender in Muslim Personal Law.
4. In the order of priority, the division of property takes place according to the following three criteria, to settle liabilities, considering the proximity of a person with the deceased and the position of heirs.
5. However, in reality, men tend to receive almost double the inheritance than their female counterparts. For instance, in parents' property, daughters get half the share of what the sons receive. If the girl is a single child, she is only entitled to half of her parent's property.
6. If the couple has no children, the wife gets one-fourth inheritance after her husband dies but the husband gets half inheritance of wife's property after her death. If the couple has children, the wife gets one-eighth part of her dead husband's property while the husband gets one-fourth.
7. The people who favoured Shariat claimed that the difference in inheritance comes from the fact that Muslim men have more financial responsibilities like taking care of the family while Muslim women are exempt from financial responsibilities and can spend their inheritance as pocket money.
8. The supporters of Shariat also called out Sheena and C Shukkur, the Muslim couple from Kerala who became the talk of the town after they got remarried as per the Special Marriage Act of the Indian Constitution to ensure full inheritance to their daughters.
9. Meanwhile, the Forum For Muslim Women's Gender Justice argued that Muslim Personal Law only implements laws that are favourable to the male community.
10. The organisation found the conservative's point of view different from the modern families where men and women are equal partners and not subordinates. Their financial responsibilities are equal and hence, there should be an amendment in Shariat.