Daughters Right in Property in Muslims (Sunni and Shia)

DAUGHTERS RIGHT IN PROPERTY IN MUSLIMS (SUNNI AND SHIA)
BY- AMAN JAIN

BBA LLB, Fifth year
ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN
INTRODUCTION
The basic structure and detailed consequences of Sunni and Shia inheritance laws differ, despite
the fact that both are motivated by Quranic passages on inheritance.Because Sunnis make up the
majority of Pakistan's population, its inheritance law is generally well-regarded by attorneys and
law students, but Shia inheritance law does not.
The most noticeable distinction between Sunni and Shia legal systems is their unique inheritance
rules, according to Islamic literature.These divisions are so entrenched that bridging them is
nearly impossible.This is not to say that there is no area marked by similarity.At least in certain
areas, these various legal systems rely on the same sorts of shares and propose the same kinds of
remedies to practical issues.Given their different architectures, explaining them within a single
framework of elaboration is a difficult undertaking.Many scholars have written on Shia and
Sunni inheritance laws, but they have either focused on the latter or have not given adequate
room to development of the former's principles and comparison with the latter's law.
For example, one of the most prominent scholars in the Muslim world on the issue, Al- Sabooni,
has limited his study to Sunni law solely in his work.
LEGAL HEIRS ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE CLASSES:

According to Shia law, legal heirs are divided into three main categories.Following that, these
classes decide how an inheritance is distributed among legal heirs and how to give priority to one
legal heir over another.Appropriate knowledge of these classes aids in understanding Shia law of
inheritance, as aspects of the system are related to it in some way.The following are the classes:
Class 1 consists of
(i)parents and
(ii) children (male and female).
The children also include their descendants, no matter how distant, regardless of whether they
are offspring of male or female children.
Class 2:
(i) Grandparents (true or false) of any age, and
(ii) Brothers and sisters (full, consanguine, and uterine) and their offspring of any age,regardless
of gender.
Class 3:
(i)Paternal uncles and aunts,
(ii) Maternal uncles and aunts, and
(iii) Their offspring, regardless of gender.
Once the heirs have been classified, there are two essential principles that must be followed.
To begin, as long as an heir (or more than one) from class 1 is there, no one will be entitled to
inheritance from class 2; similarly, if an heir (or more than one) from class 2 is present, no one
will have anything from class 3.These groups establish a fundamental structure for the
distribution of a Shia deceased's inheritance, with the exception of the deceased's spouse, who is
dealt with differently.This will be addressed in the next section.
Secondly, within the same class, there is no difference between male and female heirs save that a
male heir will get a share that is double that of a female heir.For example, descendants of a Sunni
deceased's daughter are excluded from inheritance under Sunni law because they are considered
distant kindred whose right to inheritance will only be entertained in the absence of the sharers
and the residuaries8, whereas his son's descendants are entitled to his estate because they are
considered the sharer or the residuary.Shia law makes no distinction between son and daughter
descendants, placing both in the same category.When one descendant of the class is entitled, the
other is likewise entitled.Sunni law separates descendants of brothers and sisters into residuaries
and remote kindred, similarly to descendants of sons and daughters, but Shia law does not favour
men over females in these cases or place their descendants in distinct groups.
DAUGHTERS RIGHT IN MUSLIM LAW
In India, Muslim law is not codified, thus it is controlled by two schools of Muslim personal law:
Hanafi: According to the Hanafi School, daughters have no rights to their father's property.
It recognises only those heirs who have a male lineage to the dead.
Shia: According to the Shia school, daughters are given rights to a share of the property; they are
given 12 of the son's part of the property.
So, in Muslim law, a daughter's claim to property is exclusively granted under Shia law.
The following rights are available:
● The daughters have entire rights to the property they inherit and are legally permitted to
manage, govern, and even dispose of their separate portions of the property.
● The girls have the right to share 12 of the part granted to the son in the property, implying
that the son has twice the portion that the daughters have in that property.
● If she does not have a brother, she is only entitled to half of the property's shares.
● She also has the right to live in her parents' home until she marries and to get support
from her parents.
● According to Muslim law, the individual holding the share in the property cannot dispose
of more than one-third of the portion inherited by bequest.
CONCLUSION
The laws of inheritance in Muslim law are rather stringent A son receives twice as much as a
daughter, but the daughter is the only owner of whatever property she inherits.If there is no
brother, she receives half of the inheritance.It is legally hers to manage, control, and dispose of
as she sees fit.She is also eligible for presents from people from whom she would inherit.This is
paradoxical because woman can only inherit one-third of the man's portion but receive presents
without difficulty.

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DAUGHTERS RIGHT IN PROPERTY IN MUSLIMS (SUNNI AND SHIA)

BY- AMAN JAIN

LEGAL HEIRS ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE CLASSES:

DAUGHTERS RIGHT IN MUSLIM LAW

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