Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—Many women’s organizations, including Muslim and Islamic organizations, held different programmes to mark International Women’s Day (IWD) today.
The programmes were aimed at discussing ways and means to empower Muslim women.
Among them were debates and discussions to develop entrepreneurship among Muslim women, make them financially independent, or active earning members to add to the family income.
These organizations focused on entrepreneurship issues because very few Muslim women are in business and trade.
However, the theme for this year’s IWD is ‘gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.’ Does the title also mean justice for women who have been suffering worldwide for various reasons?
A simple reading of the details of the theme uploaded on the United Nation’s website shows that the world body is more interested in promoting the interests of the corporates rather than seeking justice for women.
Many organizations have also drawn the government’s attention in our country about health issues about the women in the informal sector, child care support for informal women workers, and maternity and pension benefits for such informal sector women workers. Good ideas indeed!
However, I want to draw the readers’ attention towards another critical issue about empowering Muslim women. I wished to include women of all faiths into my discussion, but that would widen the debate too much, and it would not be possible to do justice to the topic. But the problems of the women belonging to other faiths are equally essential and almost similar to those of the Muslim women as far as their economic empowerment is concerned.
When the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammed more than 1400 years ago, it granted rights to women in inheritance, that is, the family property. It means that daughters and sisters share properties and assets left by their parents. Before Islam, women had no inheritance rights. The Quranic idea was, and is, to empower women economically and financially so that they could lead dignified life. A woman with assets and properties will command more respect in her husband’s family and society in general. Therefore, the laws of Islam are highly progressive and revolutionary concerning the economic empowerment of women.
But what is the situation about Muslim women getting their share in parental property? Are their parents or brothers giving them their share in inheritance? Do Muslim women assert their rights of inheritance? No survey or research has been conducted on the issue anywhere in India by any organization. No proper research on the topic has been undertaken by any academic institution or a law institution. Hardly any literature is available about the Muslim women being given their inheritance rights in India. In the absence of proper research on this important subject, there is no data available to show how many percent of parents in India give a share of their daughters in the family property? Or how many percent of Muslim women have inherited properties from their parents?
Ahmedabad-based advocate Tahir Hakim, who practices in the Gujarat High Court and is also a member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), says, “Hardly, two to four percent of Muslim parents give their daughters a share in family properties as per Quranic laws.”
There are various reasons for it. “Parents generally consider the expenses made on daughter’s marriage and dowry as part of the inheritance. Hence, they don’t give their daughter a share in inheritance,” he notes.
“But the parents also spend money on their son’s weddings. Yet, only the son inherits the entire wealth of the parents,” he argues.
“Sons of wealthy parents enjoy a luxurious life, live in sprawling bungalows, and move around in costly cars at the cost of their parent’s earning, while their sisters, if married in poor families, have to live their entire life in poverty,” observes Hakim.
“Even religious scholars avoid giving their daughters and sisters right in parental property. This is a very sad situation,” he remarks.
“This is clear injustice and anti-Islamic, too. Moreover, this is a violation of Islamic laws. Therefore, something needs to be done urgently to ensure that women are not denied their inheritance rights. If women are given their right of inheritance, it will empower females and help them live an honourable life,” says Hakim.
Another argument of the parents in Gujarat, says Hakim, is that the brother has to give “Mamera” (gifts at the wedding of sister’s daughters and sons). On this pretext also, many parents deny inheritance rights to their daughters.
The most important reason, according to Hakim, is that the women themselves don’t assert their rights for inheritance. “A woman does not make a strong demand for a share in the inheritance because she fears the parents and brothers will sever their relationship with her and the doors of parents will be closed forever if she insists on inheritance against their wishes. And she will have no one to support her in case of any marital dispute,” points out Hakim.
“In some cases, parents and brothers force the daughters to relinquish their claims voluntarily and forgive them”, points out Hakim. “The woman has no option than to meet the unfair demand, though reluctantly, in the existing situation. So, while the Islamic laws are there in favour of women, the local tradition and culture do not support the women,” comments the advocate.
He says that the situation is the same even among families of the Ulema and Islamic scholars.
“Even Ulema are denying the inheritance rights to their daughters and sisters,” he claims.
All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) President Navaid Hamid echoed the views of Advocate Hakim. He holds the dominance of the Hindu culture responsible for depriving Muslim women of their right to inheritance.
“Instead of giving dowry, the parents must give daughter’s share in the parental property to end injustice with women,” he advises.
On conditions of anonymity, a well-known Muslim political leader said that when his mother approached the court for her rights in the parental property, her brother submitted in the court that the woman in question was not his sister. And her mother lost the case.
Former chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan holds the lack of Islamic knowledge among Muslims responsible for injustice with women in Muslim societies. Ignorance of Islam prevents women from inheriting properties from parents.
A research article by Ekanksh Shekhawat from Kirit P. Mehta School of Law, Mumbai, concurs with the views of Ad Hakim, Navaid Hamid, and Dr. Khan. She holds socio-cultural traditions, prejudices against women, and lack of Islamic awareness as “barriers to Muslim women’s right to inheritance”.
“The socio-cultural heritage has had a detrimental effect on the growth of women empowerment in our present day, in every aspect of their lives, especially in the domains of attaining inherited property ownership,” Shekhawat says in her article.
“Women are often intimidated and emotionally manipulated into handing over their property to their siblings. Even in certain cultures, it is considered shameful for women to inquire about their inheriting property from their brothers unless they have been awarded it,” she points out.
She says that while Islam forbids any prejudice between males and females, boys and girls, sons and daughters, “yet the socio-cultural heritage in Muslim communities in India and other countries, are not in support of women.” And this exhibits in the distribution of inheritance as well.
Asserting that the current law of Islam is complete in every detail in ensuring women’s share in inheritance, she suggests that “the state should impose a legislative ruling” to ensure that women got their share of the inheritance on Quranic principles. Shekhawat is of the view that this will “ensure financial stability among family members and community as a whole.”
