Islamic law of inheritance
Nowadays a burning question is why under Islamic law women's share of the inherited wealth is only half that of a man. And various initiatives are being taken to enact a law that will ensure women's equal rights to their parents' property. But we should understand logically the reasons behind the Islamic law. A brief explanation is given below in this regard.
In Islam women have no financial obligation and the economic responsibility lies on the shoulders of the man. Before a woman is married it is the duty of the father or the brother to look after the lodging, boarding, clothing and other financial requirements of the women. After she is married it is the duty of the husband or the son. Islam holds the man financially responsible for fulfilling the needs of his family. In order to do able to fulfil the responsibility the men get double the share of the inheritance.
For example, if a man dies leaving about Tk one hundred and fifty thousand, for the children (i.e. one son and one daughter) the son inherits one hundred thousand rupees and the daughter only fifty thousand rupees. Out of the one hundred thousand which the son inherits, as the duty towards his family, he may have to spend on them almost the entire amount or say about eighty thousand and thus he has a small percentage of inheritance, say about twenty thousand, left for himself. On the other hand, the daughter, who inherits fifty thousand, is not bound to spend a single penny on anybody. She can keep the entire amount for herself. Would you prefer inheriting one hundred thousand taka and spending eighty thousand from it, or inheriting fifty thousand taka and having the entire amount yourself?
Hence, we can say, ensuring equality to the wealth will be actually creating inequality.
So, it is the bounden duty of the government to implement the Islamic law strictly.
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