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Thursday, December 17, 2009

[mukto-mona] Tariq Ramadan in Kualalampur--his speeche--his blog http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/2009/12/weekend-with-tariq-ramadan.html



 

 

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Weekend with Tariq Ramadan



It was probably a good thing that the people who invited Tariq Ramadan didn't organise the talk somewhere in PJ. If they had, the venue would probably have been surrounded by the police in order to arrest the Swiss-Egyptian Islamic scholar for not being licensed to speak. Luckily it was held in KL where it is still relatively safe to speak on Islam. Although if religious authorities like JAKIM and the Mufti of Perak had accepted their invitations to attend, who knows what might have happened since Tariq Ramadan is critical. Very critical. So critical that he is barred from entering no less than six Muslim countries ( Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Libya).

But someone who is critical is, in our intellectually-starved country, a breath of fresh air. And it didn't hurt that it came in an eloquent passionate French-accented package either.

Tariq Ramadan was here on the invitation of a new organisation called the Islamic Renaissance Front which is dedicated to empowering young Muslims especially to use reason to bolster their faith. For two days, under the theme 'For People Who Think' and in dedication to the late renowned Islamic scholar Muhammad Asad, Prof Ramadan gave talks on the need for reform and renewal in Islam.

It is a pity that the audience was mostly from the English-speaking Muslim middle-class as well as some foreign students and scholars residing here because Prof Ramadan's message really needs to be heard by the masses. Not least because it is a radical message for people used to not thinking and blindly following whatever anyone they think of as a religious authority says.

Prof Ramadan's talk challenged many things that we in Malaysia have come to accept as Islamic. He asserts that while Islam is a universal religion, it doesn't mean that there is no room for diversity, both in space and time. Meaning that there should be room for many different interpretations and there must also be room for evolution due to the passing of time. It's not that Islam isn't relevant for all times but we must look at new innovations and challenges based on the same principles. And those principles are always justice and equality.

These principles are found in the Quran and the Sunnah but there have been many confusions. For instance, there is the confusion on the relationship between text and context. Many people do not, for example, place the text of the Quran in context of when and why they were revealed. They dealt with specific problems of the time but there are principles within them for all time.

Secondly, there is a failure to distinguish between principles and models. "Models," he said, "are historical while principles are universal." A model for a type of governance may be fine for a certain time but not for now. But the principles of that governance, based on jstice and equality, should still apply.

Thirdly, not being able to differentiate between laws and the way. He reiterated that syariah means 'the way' towards faith, not a set of laws. If we take it simply as meaning laws, we may well contradict 'the way', and 'the way' is always about achieving justice. If all we do is to make law but forget the way, then we may well lose 'the way'. Punishment which is almost always how we define syariah is far from 'the way' because 'the way' starts always with justice.

Fourthly, we often confuse rules and meanings. We are so obsessed with rules that we forget about meanings. We may pray five times a day but forget God at the same time. We need to distinguish between a religion of only rules, and one which connects spirituality with rules. We pray not just to follow rules but to remember God; if we don't, we miss the point.

In talking about reform, Prof Ramadan challenged us to think about what type of reform we want. Is it one where we have more and more rules, more and more adaptations? Or one where we transform both ourselves and the world? He feels that the essence of Islam is to reform in order to transform. He repeated many times on both days that we should not simply imitate.

Referring Asad, he said that imitation is wrong because it is colonialism.We should not simply take on what other people have done and put an Islamic veneer on it by making it halal (at one point he shocked the audience by saying, "I don't know what it means to eat a halal Mcdonald's"). The point is not so much to ensure things are always halal but to contribute our own input to the world. In other words, why are we eating McD which is from another culture anyway when we have our own foods?

In order to contribute however, we must have a vision of what we want to do and what world we want to live in. And visions have to be far-reaching and beyond what is reality now. We can't do that if we do not know the world. "If you want to change the world, know the world" he said.

It is therefore simply not enough to rely solely on religious texts and scholars. We need experts in all fields, indeed to 'shift the centre of gravity of Islam' away from just scholars. This, he says, is why Muslims have contributed so little to knowledge these days. The only area where we have been quite good is medicine because religious scholars realise that their lack of knowledge in this field could lead to death and therefore they have deferred to medical experts, thus allowing it to advance.But in other areas we are still lacking.

Prof Ramadan also said some things which few Muslims in our country have ever been bold enough to say. "Islam," he said, "has no problems with women, but Muslims have." He elicited applause from us women in the audience when he said that domestic violence is simply unIslamic. (Later on I had the opportunity to relate to him how it took us six years to pass the Domestic Violence Act in 1994 mainly because there were people who thought such a law would be unIslamic.). He said it vexed him that there are Muslim countries today where women are not allowed to enter mosques. Is that a problem of Islam or of some Muslims?

He asked what are our contributions today in culture, the arts, architecture, music? In music, he said he was so happy that Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) has now returned to making music of the highest level, and regrets the low standards of music in the Muslim world today which seems to regard audiences as infantile and only capable of understanding the simplest lyrics. Furthermore he stressed, "to be good Muslims, you do not have to Arab-ise yourself." I could feel an uncomfortable shifting in the audience's seats.

He also said something else which almost made the audience stop breathing. "Anti-Semitism," he stressed, "is unIslamic. We must acknowledge the suffering of the Jews." This is different from Zionism which is a colonial project which must be opposed, just as we oppose all colonialisms (including Arab ones). He deplores the people who, when unable to agree with Asad, said things like, "Don't forget he was a Jew." It is totally unacceptable, he said, to refer to people's past when you disagree with them. Indeed this is something we see very often here; when you can't find a better argument, discredit the other person.

Prof Ramadan's main emphasis in both his talks is that the way to faith, to be closer to God, is to think critically always."It is not because you are Muslim that you get everything. It is the quest for faith involving ongoing critical thinking that is most important."

Principles and ethics are important. Someone asked him a question about the ummah and he urged us not to romanticise the ummah in such a way that we are blind to wrong-doing. "I will not be your brother if, in the name of brotherhood, I am to support injustice...I belong to the principles, not to my community when they betray those principles."

It was really refreshing to hear Prof Ramadan speak because it was so different from the usual stuff you hear all the time but which are almost always unsatisfactory because they don't provide answers to contemporary questions. But there will undoubtedly be many who will not like what he says. Indeed, he himself pointed out the issue of power, where people in power hate to be criticised or challenged. This must be what prompted our own muftis here to object to any invitation to the Grand Mufti of Syria, Dr. Ahmad Hassoun to speak here because he is known to be open and progressive. What could be worse for those in religious power than for their flock to find out that other religious people think very differently from them?

Someone from the audience got up to say that he liked what Prof Ramadan said but he should be careful because he risked being assassinated. He should have mentioned that those most likely to assassinate him  are Muslims, not anyone else.

MarinaM

 



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[mukto-mona] Fwd: ARTICLE BY THOMAS FRIEDMAN, NYTimes





We had a civil war in America in the mid-19th century because we had a lot of people who believed bad things — namely that you could enslave people because of the color of their skin. We defeated those ideas and the individuals, leaders and institutions that propagated them..........

Islam needs the same civil war. It has a violent minority that believes bad things: that it is O.K. to not only murder non-Muslims — "infidels," who do not submit to Muslim authority — but to murder Muslims as well who will not accept the most rigid Muslim lifestyle and submit to rule by a Muslim caliphate.

What is really scary is that this violent, jihadist minority seems to enjoy the most "legitimacy" in the Muslim world today.

 

Read the full article :

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16friedman.html?em

NY Times, 16th Dec, 2009




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[ALOCHONA] Crisis group warns



FOREIGN OBSERVERS IRKED BY GOVERNANCE STYLE
 
Crisis group warns
 
M. Shahidul Islam
 
Effective leadership being the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources to obtain targeted goals, those goals can not be achieved unless stability is restored first.
   Dogged and hammered by a succession of crises since assuming power early this year, the AL-led regime now finds itself in the midst of more intractable challenges which many of the national institutions will fail to help overcome due to deliberate weakening of them by political influence peddling and partisan motivations.
   Especially nation's military and the police forces undergoing severe upheavals, further instability can hardly be avoided unless the pattern and modalities of governance change sooner.
   
   Damning reports
   Two startling reports go a long way in depicting the exact state of affairs of the nation and its people, viewed from the perspective offered by how the police force, the custodian of law, behaves.
   The first report is about the ubiquitous and the utterly detestable police immorality and, the second one is about the severe consequences the extent of criminality within the police force has begun to unleash.
   On December 15, police Sub-Inspector (SI) Mainul Islam of Dhaka city's Adabar police station was caught red-handed while robbing two mobile phone shops in the city's Paltan area. Accompanied by a group of five muggers, including two other police personnel-SI Rowshan Ali of Kotwali police station and constable Saju of the Detective Branch (DB)-the unscrupulous (and dare-devil) law enforcers mugged Taka 16.5 lacs before being caught by pedestrians.

   The second report, which sketched out the prevailing hopelessness, un-professionalism and the corrupt mind-set of the police force, was released by the AFP news agency only hours before that grisly incident in the heart of the nation's capital. Titled as: "Dire Bangladesh policing threatens democracy," the report quoted the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) for warning in a recently published report that the "dire state of Bangladesh police risks inviting a military takeover of law and order duties."

   If true, that implies re-arrival of emergency rules, if not martial law, or any disguised version of the same.
   The ICG remarkably pontificating in its report said that the police force was a "tool to line the pockets of politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen," and that if Hasina's government did not reform the system, the army could step in."
   
   Why now?
   One wonders why this report now when this state of affairs prevailed even when the military was at the helm of the state affairs during the prolonged caretaker interregnum (2007-2008), albeit in much controlled and circumspect manner.
   For example, on February 11, 2008, three police personnel, including a senior officer (Assistant Commissioner of Panchlaish zone, Abu Saleh Mofazzal Huq, along with Constable Ehsanul Islam and driver Abdur Rouf) were arrested on charge of committing robbery at the house of a Dhaka-based businessman. The robbery was conducted with a pretext to 'conducting search'.
   Although the caretaker government of the time adopted a virtual zero-tolerance policy to deal with such matters and a published report of July 2009 showed 31,043 police officers of different ranks having been punished for corruption and other delinquent behaviours during 2007-2008, the situation seems to have reverted to square one since the arrival of a political government to power early this year. Hence the concern of this international think tank
   Then again, one might as well ask was the situation better when the BNP-led alliance government was in power from 2001-2007? Not quite, but the criminality and the delinquency within the police force did not slide as badly then as it did particularly since mid-2009.
   This is due to lack of proper leadership, supervision and punishment, according to analysts. For instance, in 2002, a total of 19,622 policemen were punished for their involvement in corruption and other criminal activities while another 16,913 faced similar consequences in 2001. That had very positive impact on the discipline of the entire force.
   Yet, the Transparency International (TI) reported in 2002 that the two most important elements of public security-protection of life and property and the dispensation of justice-suffered badly in Bangladesh due mainly to police corruption. The TI survey revealed that 49.5% of the complaints made by the victims of crimes involved bribing police to do so while 55% of the cases got stopped from moving to the court through similar shady means.
   Corrupt leadership
   There is a broader consensus that pervasive corruption within the police force derives its strength, legitimacy and sustenance from corrupt political leadership, and, most of the senior police officers agree. Insisting anonymity, one officer confessed candidly: "We get political pressure in support of the perpetrators of the crimes not to proceed with justice. It eventually ends up with some bakshish in return as we find this as doing favour to the criminals."
   Juxtaposed with the ICG report, one finds such an assertion containing not only the plausible grains of truth, but the whole truth, and, there are rampant examples to prove it.
   Recently, police at Sitakunda police station (Chittagong) refused to record a case in connection with the encroachment of four shipbreaking yards by the sons of a ruling Awami League lawmaker, ABM Abul Kashem. Following a series of media exposures relating not only to the encroachment of the shipyards, also to the brutal attacks on journalists when they tried to cover the story, police finally arrested Golam Mostofa and Shahabuddin, two aides of the lawmaker's sons, for having attacked journalists, while the MP's sons remained at large, unfazed, untouched.
   This culture of 'selective justice' in favour of those in power is what prompts many police officers to indulge into whatever is considered possible to get rich quicker. The rationale is: if the political bosses are corrupt, why not we? Besides, the recently held BNP's convention proved anew that the political parties and the police are impregnable to the needed reform and adaptation, come what may.
 
 
 
'Dire' Bangladesh policing threatens democracy

Bangladesh: Getting Police Reform on Track

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6427&l=1




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[mukto-mona] FW: Inheritance law in Islam and women--a malignant person's attempt to create confusion



 

 


 

 


From: S A Hannan [mailto:sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 10:32 PM
To: 'khabor@yahoogroups.com'

 

Dear sirs,

 

Assalamu Alaikum.This has been a matter on which Muslim scholars have replied a hundred times.Any Islamic issue is decided by taking into consideration the Quran and Sunnah and Ijtihad.

This is a well-known Hadith from Muadh that Prophet (sm)asked him  what he will do when he does not find a solution  in the Quran, he said that I will look into Sunnah.Prophet (sm ) asked Muadh, if he did not find in the Sunnah, he said I will do Ijtihad.( Sunan Abu Dawood )

 

The problems Mr MSA mentions exists in his imagination, Muslims have solved these issues in Fiqh books thousand years book.Not a single conflict on this point has arisen in the last thousand years. Any person can see the chapter of Radd and Awl  in this regard in the books of Fiqh or Faraid.

 

As regard Devdas’ post below, I can only say guardianship is not only for man, father is guardian for both boys and girls till they reach the age of maturity.Mother can equally be guardian.A woman has all the capacity of guardianship as clearly stipulated in Sura Tauba, verse 71 ( Al Muminuna wal Muminatu Baduhoom Awliayoo Badeen –which means man and woman can be guardian to each other ).In Sura Nisa ,in verse 34, Qawwam means that husbands have to provide for wives, this Islam has done to balance over-all responsibilities of men and women.

 

Shah Abdul Hannan

 


From: khabor@yahoogroups.com [mailto:khabor@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of msa40@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 7:25 PM
To: khabor@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [khabor.com] Inheritance law in Islam and women

 

 

Here is how the inheritance in Islam is to be distributed (see the calculations and wonder how proficient Allah is in mathematics!):

 

(1). Man dies leaving behind:
Wife 1/8
=   3/24 (4:12)
Daughters 2/3 = 16/24 (4:176)
Father 1/6 =   4/24 (4:11)
Mother1/6 =   4/24(4:11)
Total  = 27/24=1.125 

 

This is bigger than the total funds available.

 

(2). Woman dies leaving no descendants or ascendants:
Husband, (1/2)
=   1/2 (4:12)
Brother  (everything) =   2/2 (4:176)
Total  =   3/2 =1.5

 

(3). Woman dies leaving no ascendants or descendants and no brother:
Husband, (1/2)
=   3/6 (4:12, 4:176)
Sister (1/2)  =   3/6 (4:11)
Mother (1/3)  =   2/6 (4:11)
Total  =   8/6  =1.33

 

(4).Man dies leaving behind:
Wife1/4
=   3/12 (4:12)
Mother 1/3 =   4/12 (4:11)
Sisters 2/3 =   8/12 (4:176)
Total  = 15/12  =1.25

 

Mohammad Aghar

 

In a message dated 12/14/2009 6:33:16 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, islam1234@msn.com writes:

 


 
Brother Hannan and Sister Fatima Kaniz> _

In your zeal to defend the indefensible---You are engaging in suppression of the truth by way of obfuscation. Fallacies should not be persuasive, but they often are. You are supposed to address an issue with 100% honesty and accuracy. Instead you go off on a tangent and commit the fallacy of avoiding the issue altogether by engaging in selective scholarship method which fits nicely in your world view. How can you defend your PhD dissertation on Inheritance math of Quran’s Sura 2:240 in front of a Ivy League panel? Even I, an unscholarly man, find your arguments non-cohesive, full of flawed logic, and unsound in reasoning! A big shame on you! You are digressing and not sticking to the issues I raised regarding Sharia. How can you not be aware that in Islam a woman is considered a property of a Man? First she is the property of her father; Second, she is the property of her brothers; Third, she is the property of her husband and fourth, she is a public property. United Nations has declared that this guardianship system takes away women’s autonomy and her dignity. Professor Fatima Kaniz and Mr.Hannan Saheb—do you mean to tell me you disagree with the UN legal measures? A woman has only two options available to her in your wonderful Islam. A woman who cannot find a husband is to marry a married man or become public property—meaning a prostitute. Islam prefers giving women the honorable position by permitting the first option and disallowing the second. Professor Fatima Kaniz--doesn’t Male Guardianship Concept make you sick in the stomach? Why the woman does not have the right to remain single forever? For arrogant deceivers, I have invented and patented this universal Dua. ‘Yes indeed, whosoever obstinately, obdurately, arrogantly, gratuitously,  portentously, blindly, and foolishly decides to prevaricate--I will invoke the Malediction on him with all my might. May Allah’s Curse be on those who willfully, knowingly, intentionally, and deliberately engage in deceptive interpretation of the Inheritance laws of Holly Quran. May Allah’s curse be on those who obfuscate the Truth for the preservation of falsehood’. 
 
SaifDevdas
islam1234@msn.com




 


To: dahuk@yahoogroups.com; mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com; witness-pioneer@yahoogroups.com; khabor@yahoogroups.com; sonarbangladesh@yahoogroups.com
CC: sahannan@yahoogroups.com
From: sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:41:55 +0100
Subject: [khabor.com] Inheritance law in Islam and women

 


 

Subject heading corrected


 

 


Dear sirs,

 

Assalamu Alaikum.In view of the recent declaration of the present Prime Minister of Bangladesh,Im circulating this valuable article for your perusal

 

Shah Abdul Hannan 

 


-----

 

Dear brother/sister,

 

Assalamu Alaikum

 

Please find my article on Inheritance law in Islam and womenin the following link. it was published in the daily New nation .

 

 

Kaniz Fatima

 

Assistant Professor

Darul Ihsan University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inheritance law in Islam and women

 

Kaniz Fatima



A source of significant controversy both inside and outside the Muslim community is the Islamic law of inheritance. Whether women can inherit at all is not the controversy. Rather, the dispute centers around the "share" that is to be inherited. The injunction that a male relative (son) receives a share equal to that of two females (daughter) has given birth of a vigorous equality debate. Some argue that the differential treatment on the basis of gender regarding inheritance shares violates international human rights and in Islam women's share in inheritance is unfair and unjustified. Therefore, a number of NGOs and few personalities in Muslim countries have called for equal inheritance rights. On the other hand, Muslims argue that the shares of a male are double than that of a female not because a male is worth more, but because the male has the duty to support his family while the female is exempted from any sort of financial responsibility and can spend it all on herself without the need to share. However, a more dominant position is the general position, even from Muslim women, that what God has ordained for shares cannot be changed and the application of these formal inheritance rules pertaining to designated shares must be understood in a broader socio-cultural and economic context and within wider inheritance systems of practice. If seen as a whole, it would be very clear that in Islamic law women are much more favored financially than males.

One must first realize that Islam revolutionized women's inheritance rights. Prior to the Quranic injunction - and indeed in the west until only recently - women could not inherit from their relatives, and were themselves bequeathed as if they were property to be distributed at the death of a husband, father, or brother. Muslim mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters had received inheritance rights thirteen hundred years before Europe recognized that these rights even existed.

According to the Encyclopedia Americana, in English Common law all the real property held by a woman at the time of her marriage became the property of her husband-he was entitled to the rent from the land and any profit that might be made from managing it. It was not until the late 1870s onwards in Europe that married women achieved the right to enter contracts and own property. In France this right was not recognized until 1938.

During the time of Prophet (SAWS) women themselves were objects of inheritance and they were considered part of the possession of a man. At such a critical juncture of history Islam brought about a revolution in the domain of human thought and outlook towards women and established the right of women to inherit and has distributed the inheritance in a very upright way. This determined share is calculated by Allah Himself and can't be changed. Thus, Islam, by clearly stating in the Quran that women have the right to inherit for themselves, changed the status of women in an unprecedented fashion. The Quran states: "Men shall have a share in what parents and kinsfolk leave behind, and women shall have a share in what parents and kinsfolk leave behind."(Quran 4:7).

Islamic inheritance systems and the equality debate: Reasons for half share for females: The division of inheritance is a vast subject with an enormous amount of details (Quran 4:7,11,12, 33,176). The general rule is that the female share is half the male's. This general rule if taken in isolation from other legislations concerning men and women may seem unfair. In order to understand the rationale behind this rule, one must take into account the fact that the financial obligations of men in Islam far exceed those of women.

Women in Islam receive assets mainly from three sources: inheritance, Mahr and maintenance. On the other hand male receives double on first source inheritance but they need to give Mahr to wives and maintenance to wives and other dependants. A bridegroom must provide his bride with a marriage gift. This gift is considered her property and neither the groom nor the bride's family have any share in or control over it and remains so even if she is later divorced. The bride is under no obligation to present any gifts to her groom. This symbolizes an assurance of economic security from the husband towards wife. "And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, Of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it and enjoy it with right good cheer" (4:4) Moreover, the Muslim husband is charged with the maintenance of his wife and children. The wife's property and earnings are under her full control and for her use alone since her, and the children's, maintenance is her husband's responsibility. No matter how rich the wife might be, she is not obliged to act as a co-provider for the family unless she herself voluntarily chooses to do so. Women are financially secure and provided for. If she is a wife, her husband is the provider; if she is a mother, it is the son; if she is a daughter, it is the father; if she is a sister; it is the brother, and so on. In this circumstances if we deprive the female completely from inheritance, it would be unjust to her because she is related to the deceased. Likewise, if we always give her a share equal to the man's, it would be unjust to him. So, instead of doing injustice to either side, Islam gives the man a larger portion of the inherited property to help him to meet his family needs and social responsibilities. At the same time, Islam has not forgotten her altogether, but has given her a portion to satisfy her very personal needs. In fact, Islam in this respect is being more kind to her than to him.

The fact is that in Islamic law as a whole, women are much more favored financially than their male counterparts for the following reasons:

1. Before marriage any gift given to women is her own and her husband has no legal right to claim on it even after marriage.

2. On marriage she is entitled to receive a marriage gift (Mahr) and this is her own property.

3. Even if the wife is rich, she is not required to spend a single penny for household; the full responsibility for her food, clothing, housing, medications and recreation etc. are her husband's.

4. Any income the wife earns through investment or working is entirely her own.

5. In case of divorce, if any deferred part of the Mahr is left unpaid, it becomes due immediately.

6 . The divorcee woman is entitled to get maintenance from husband during her waiting period (iddat).

Examples

The financial status of women, if maintenance right, inheritance right and right of marital gift are considered together, the Muslim women are in far better position.

We can give some examples-

Imagine Mr Abdur Rahim left one son, Halim and one daughter, Fatima and 30 lac taka (30,00,000/-) to be distributed between them at the time of his death. So according to Islamic law Halim will receive 20 lac taka and Fatima will receive 10 lac taka. Before her marriage maintenance of Fatima will be on Halim's shoulder. At the time of marriage Fatima will receive mahr (for example 1 lac) from her husband and Halim will have to give Mahr (for example 1 lac) to his wife. If a middle class family spends Tk.30,000/- per month (which is legally to be borne by the male for himself, wife and children) and if the married life is for 30 years, Halim will have to spend Tk.30,000/-×12×30=1,08,00,000/- (10.8 million taka ) for his family maintenance. On the other hand his sister Fatima does not need to bear any cost for maintenance for herself, husband and children (if she does spend something it is sadaqa not because of obligation under law or Shariah), rather she entails to receive her maintenance from her husband. For example every month she receives 10,000/- for her maintenance (in terms of residence, food, cloth, treatment and entertainment). So in total she receives for 30 years Taka 10,000/-X12X30= 36,00,000/- ( thirty six lac taka). In the above mentioned case, the man has to spend 109 lac or 10.9 million taka more than her sister in thirty years. If the advantage of man in inheritance of one million is deducted, even then the sister has advantage of 108 lac or 10.8 million.

Halim

 

 

Fatima

 

 

Receives as inheritance           

+20,00,000/-

 

 

Receives as inheritance           

+10,00,000/-

Advantage of Brother

10,00,000/-

Gives Mahr                                 

 

-1,00,000/-

Receives Mahr

+1,00,000/-

Advantage of sister

1,00,000/-

Maintenance expenditure on family

 

-1,08,00,000/-

Maintenance expenditure on family

nill-

Advantage of sister

1,08,00,000/-

Receives maintenance

nill

 

Receives maintenance form husband

+36,00,000

Advantage of sister

36,00,000/-

Sub total

+20,00,000/-

-1,09,00,000/-

 

+47,00,000/-

 

Comparative advantage/disadvantage  of brother/sister (+ -)

 

 

-89,00,000/-

 

+47,00,000/-

Advantage of sister over brother

(1,00,000+

1,08,00,000+36,00,000-10,00,000)=

1,35,00,000/-

 

 


In this example if respective advantages are squired of even then the woman will have an advantage over brother of 1,35,00000 taka (135 lac taka ).

The advantage of the lady will increase if monthly expenditure of family is more than what has been shown in this example If the family is poor which lives on Tk.5,000/-only per month, then he has to spend Tk.1.8.million taka in 30 years. In this case, the inheritance may be very little. As such the advantage of woman obviously remains. I t is evident that, the women are always in better position. Only in the case of some super-rich, men may be in advantage. This is what Allah wanted, that is to make women more secure financially.

Now let's see what will happen if a sister gets equal to her brother in the case of Halim and Fatima. Here we have to remember that if sister (female) claims half of inheritance she will be responsible for half of maintenance of her family and males will not intend to give Mahr.

Halim receives as inheritance           

+15,00,000/-

 

 

Fatima receives as inheritance           

+15,00,000/-

 

Maintenance

(Half)

 

-54,00,000/-

Maintenance

(Half)

 

-54,00,000/-

Total

 

-39,00,000/-

 

 

-39,00,000/-

 

 

 


From these two tables it is obvious that if Fatima follows Islamic law she will be gainer of 47 lac taka. On the other hand if she claims half of inheritance she will be looser of 39 lac taka. Moreover, it would be very difficult for a woman (especially when she is expecting and has small children to take care of) to take half of financial responsibility of maintaining the family. In fact in Islamic inheritance law women are much more favored financially than males.

Exceptional cases

The inheritance law has been given for general cases. The special cases are covered in Islam by inheritance law and by other special laws of Islam dealing with Hiba, Wasiat and Nafqa (maintenance). Let's take examples of two exceptional cases:

Case one:

Imagine the situation that a man dies and leaves no direct heirs but only a brother and a sister. His sister might be a widow with children, without support from others, but she has to feed her children. The brother might be a rich business man and bachalor who has nobody to take care of but himself. Nevertheless, the brother will get 2/3 and the sister will get 1/3 of the estate. The male does get double the female no matter what their respective financial situation is and how many people depend on them. One may raise question that here the sister is in more need of wealth even though she is getting less.

In this case, the deceased may make gift of a part of his/her property (half or one third or more) in favor of the sister. Or he could make wasiat up to one third in favor of the children of the sister (wasiat can not be made for inheritors).Moreover in Islamic law the maintenance of the children of the sister is not on her but on the paternal uncles of the children or other relatives of the paternal side. If there is no paternal uncle or if they fail then responsibility goes to relations of maternal side that means to the rich bachelor brother of the deceased who has received more than his sister.

Case Two:

Imagine a man and a woman where both are about 45 years old, who have married relatively late, e.g. at about the age of 30 and who have a number of children, some of them still young. Suppose also that both have worked or for some other reason have similar estates they leave behind when dying. If the woman dies, the man gets ¼ of the inheritance. If the man dies the woman gets 1/8 of the inheritance. The question may raise that in both cases the surviving partner will have to feed and educate the children. So, how the wife would maintain the children's need if she gets less?

In this case also the husband is responsible for maintaining the children even after death of the wife, so Allah has given him a greater share. On the other hand in Islamic law it is not the duty of surviving wife in case of death of husband to maintain the children. The maintenance of the children will be first met from the property of husband, in case of shortfall, the paternal uncles and relations are responsible for their maintenance.

Half in inheritance does not mean half in status

Sometimes it has been claimed that half in inheritance indicates inferior status of women in Islam. We should keep in mind that in Islam asset or money is not the standard of status.Her share in most cases is one-half the man's share, with no implication that she is worth half a man! This variation in inheritance rights is only consistent with the variations in financial responsibilities of man and woman according to the Islamic Law. The status of woman in Islam constitutes no problem. The attitude of the Qur'an and the early Muslims bear witness to the fact that woman is, at least, as vital to life as man himself, and that she is not inferior to him nor is she one of the lower species. The status of woman was taken for granted to be equal to that of man.

This can be understood when the matter is studied as a whole in a comparative manner, rather than partially. The rights and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man but they are not necessarily identical with them. Equality and sameness are two quite different things. This difference is understandable because man and woman are not identical but they are created equals. It is almost impossible to find even two identical men or women.

This distinction between equality and sameness is of paramount importance. Equality is desirable, just, fair; but sameness is not. People are not created identical but they are created equals. With this distinction in mind, there is no room to imagine that woman is inferior to man. There is no ground to assume that she is less important than he just because her rights are not identically the same as his. The fact that Islam gives her equal rights - but not identical - shows that it takes her into due consideration, acknowledges her, and recognizes her independent personality.

The Quran provides clear-cut evidence that woman in completely equated with man in the sight of God in terms of her rights and responsibilities. The Quran states:

"Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds" (Quran 74:38).

"So their Lord accepted their prayers, (saying): I will not suffer to be lost the work of any of you whether male or female. You proceed one from another"t (Quran 3: 195).

"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him will We give a new life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the their actions." (Quran 16:97, see also 4:124). 9

Woman is recognized by Islam as a full and equal partner of man in the procreation of humankind.

"O mankind! Verily We have created your from a single (pair) of a male and a female,m and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each othert" (Qur'an, 49:13; cf. 4:1).

She is equal to man in bearing personal and common responsibilities and in receiving rewards for her deeds. She is acknowledged as an independent personality, in possession of human qualities and worthy of spiritual aspirations. Her human nature is neither inferior to nor deviant from that of man. Both are members of one another. God says:

"And their Lord has accepted (their prayers) and answered them (saying): 'Never will I cause to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female; you are members, one of anothert "(3:195; cf 9:71; 33:35-36; 66:19-21).

She is entitled to freedom of expression as much as man is. Her sound opinions are taken into consideration and cannot be disregarded just because she happen to belong to the female sex. It is reported in the Qur'an and history that woman not only expressed her opinion freely but also argued and participated in serious discussions with the Prophet himself as well as with other Muslim leaders (Qur'an, 58:1-4; 60:10-12). Besides there were occasions when Muslim women expressed their views on legislative matters of public interest, and stood in opposition to the Caliphs, who then accepted the sound arguments of these women. A specific example took place during the Califate of Umar Ibn al-Khattab.

Historical records show that women participated in public life with the early Muslims, especially in times of emergencies. Women used to accompany the Muslim armies engaged in battles to nurse the wounded, prepare supplies, serve the warriors, and so on. They were not shut behind iron bars or considered worthless creatures and deprived of souls.

Islam grants woman equal rights to contract, to enterprise, to earn and possess independently. Her life, her property, her honor are as sacred as those of man. If she commits any offense, her penalty is no less or more than of man's in a similar case. If she is wronged or harmed, she gets due compensations equal to what a man in her position would get (2:178;4:45, 92-93).

Apart from recognition of woman as an independent human being acknowledged as equally essential for the survival of humanity, Islam has given her a share of inheritance.

"And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but man have a degree (of advantage as in some cases of inheritance) over them" (2:228).

This degree is not a title of supremacy or an authorization of dominance over her. It is to correspond with the extra responsibilities of man and give him some compensation for his unlimited liabilities. It is these extra responsibilities that give man a degree over woman in some economic aspects. It is not a higher degree in humanity or in character. Nor is it a dominance of one over the other or suppression of one by the other. It is a distribution of God's abundance according to the needs of the nature of which God is the Maker. And He knows best what is good for woman and what is good for man.

Some people claim that Islam is unjust towards women because it entitles them to inherit half of what men get. In fact, those people only know one side of the truth. First, the principle of women inheriting half the money is only applicable in 45 percent of the cases. In the other 55 percent, women inherit the same amount or sometimes even more. For example, a mother and a father each inherit the sixth of their son's property when they are not the only inheritors.

In addition, the laws of inheritance in Islam are proportional to the duties of spending. Indeed, a man in Islam has the responsibility of supporting his family, his brother's children (when his brother dies), his parents (when they retire and do not have an income), his children from his previous marriage (if he has them) and his household, including his wife and children. A woman, on the other hand, does not bear this responsibility. She has the freedom to use the money she collects from her dowry or work as she pleases.

In fact, the status of woman in Islam is unprecedentedly high and realistically suitable to her nature. Her rights and duties are equal to those of man but not necessarily or absolutely identical with them. If she is deprived of one thing in some aspect, she is fully compensated for it with more things in many other aspects. Islam gives her as much as is required of her. Her rights match beautifully with her duties. The balance between rights and duties is maintained, and no side overweighs the other.

Finally, the beauty or comprehensiveness of Islamic law of inheritance will be understood if it is read with the law of maintenance, wasiat and hiba. An examination of the inheritance law within the overall framework of the Islamic Law reveals not only justice but also an abundance of compassion for woman.

(The writer is an Assistant Professor at the Darul Ihsan University)


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