Islamic inheritance laws
The PCP article by Zeeshan Hasan (21 June) is a correct summarisation of the position on Islamic inheritance laws as stated in the Quran. The making of a will with two male witnesses was the customary practice and whatever was in the will, the estate of the deceased was distributed accordingly.
However, in those days scribes were difficult to find to put the will in writing, so most wills were verbal in front of disinterested witnesses. However, there were enormous pressure on witnesses from inheritors to change the terms of the verbal will and hence the various admonitions in Quran against this. The formal law of two shares for male and one for female and other distribution guidance came soon after the battle of Ohud, when many Muslims lost their lives without being able to make a will.
These provisions do not cancel or supersede the earlier provisions of making a will in the Quran. However, the verbal will and pressurised witnesses remained a problem in society. So, some Muslim ruler (I do not know whether it was the prophet himself or there was any hadith on this) adopted the post-Ohud version as Sharia Law to avoid any witness problems and the verbal will.
A will was still allowed to be made in favour of someone who is not a legal inheritor under Sharia Law, but only up to one third of the value of the estate and no more (I do not know the basis of this). So according to the Quran, making of a will and distribution of all property by its terms as was allowed before the battle of Ohud is not abolished , and nowadays with a written will and formal attestation by witnesses, enforcement of this is no problem.
The standard Sharia provision appears applicable only to someone dying without having made a valid will. The modern educated Ulema needs to rethink and perhaps allow this Quranic practice unless there is clear disbanding of this practice mentioned somewhere in the Quran or Hadith.
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