Topic

Inheritance in Islamic Law

The Qur'an legislates inheritance shares in unusually specific numerical detail, including an explicit share for women (4:7, 4:11-12). Survey and field research across Pakistan, Jordan, and Egypt nonetheless documents widespread practical exclusion of women from inheritance, through mechanisms including outright denial, pressured legal waiver (takharruj), and token cash settlements in place of a legal share (radwa).

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Research Paper
Islam or Muslim Culture? Measuring the Distance Between Revelation and Practice
A historical-critical essay testing whether practices commonly defended as Islamic -- from denying women their Qur'anic inheritance shares to state corruption and the political shaping of orthodoxy -- rest on the Qur'an itself, or on later interpretation, historical tradition, absorbed local custom, and political authority defended in revelation's name.

Inheritance in Islamic Law

Content referencing this topic

Islam or Muslim Culture? Measuring the Distance Between Revelation and Practice