A Doctrinal and Law and Economics Justification of the Treatment of Women in Islamic Inheritance Laws

Abstract

several criticisms regarding the treatment of women in Islamic Inheritance Laws have stated that these laws are in favor of males. The most common claim is that women receive half the share of men in the Islamic inheritance system. This thesis examines this issue from legal and economic prospective. It shows that the inheritance system is part of a broader socio-economic system. Moreover, this thesis shows that unlike men, women in Islamic law receive fixed shares, which guarantees a minimum amount of inheritance for women. It concludes that women have more than twenty conditions where they would inherit equivalent share as men, more share than men, or they would exclusively inherit. In addition, women inherit half the share of men only in four cases if there is a man inheriting from an equivalent status and he is, mostly, obliged to maintain her.