The Qur’an (4:32) states: “Do not covet the bounties Allah has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others. Men shall have a benefit of what they earn and women shall have a benefit of what they earn. Therefore, ask Allah to give you out of His bounty. Allah is a witness of everything.” 

We have been discouraged for coveting the gifts Allah has favoured some believers with. This is a general statement that applies to all sorts of favours and privileges, which may include functions, positions, abilities, talents, wealth and other luxuries. Such feelings may give rise to doubting the justice and fair distribution by Allah. To harbour such doubts is disastrous because it substitutes worry and misery for content and self-confidence. A number of reports indicate that this ayah refers specifically to a certain type of favour, namely, the difference in shares of inheritance between men and women. It is an extremely important aspect of the relationship between the two sexes which needs to be established on the solid foundation of mutual acceptance and complementarity, so that contentment prevails in the family and the Muslim society. 

Umm Salamah, a wife of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, once said to him: “Messenger of Allah, men fight when we do not, and we receive half a share of inheritance.” Allah subsequently revealed: “Do not covet the bounties Allah has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others.” This ayah was then revealed. Later, Allah revealed the ayah in which He says: “I will not suffer the work of any worker among you, male or female, to be lost.” (The Qur’an – 3:195) 

These reports suggest the presence of un-Islamic concepts in the relationship between men and women. There is also an air of competition between men and women. This is probably the result of the new freedoms and rights given by Islam to women, in accordance with its overall concept which honours the human race and treats both sexes with fairness. Islam, however, wants its complete system to be implemented, as a whole, not for the benefit of men at the expense of women, nor for the benefit of women at the expense of men. It wants its system to be implemented for the benefit of humanity as a whole and for the benefit of Muslim society as it establishes the values of propriety, morality, goodness and absolute justice. 

In its distribution of the functions and shares of inheritance between men and women, Islam observes human nature, which has made man different from the woman and given each of them his or her distinctive characteristics. This is to enable them to discharge their respective duties, not for their own benefit but for the benefit of human life. Because the characteristics and functions of man and woman are different, their positions and shares vary. The ultimate beneficiary is that great institution which we call human life. Women have not been required to fight in war because they give birth to men who do the fighting. By her physical and psychological constitution, a woman is made to give birth to men and to bring them up so that they can face life and participate in jihad when necessary. In this particular domain, her ability and usefulness are greater than that of man. She is also more useful when one considers long-term national interests. As for reward, both men and women are reassured by Allah. It is sufficient for every human being to do well in fulfilling the tasks assigned to him or her in order to achieve a good position with Allah.

As for inheritance, it may appear at first glance that the general rule which assigns “to the male a share equal to that of two females” favours man. This superficial view, however, will soon disappear to be replaced by a comprehensive treatment of the respective positions of man and woman and their mutually complementary duties. A basic rule in the Islamic system states that “gain is commensurate with duty”. The man pays mehr (dowry) to the woman when he marries her, while she pays him no dowry whatsoever. He supports her and their children while she is exempt from such a duty, even when she has money of her own. When divorce or separation takes place, the man pays his divorced or estranged wife compensation for breastfeeding his child and for her custody in the same way as he pays for her own maintenance. As we see, then, the Islamic system is a comprehensive one, which distributes inheritance according to the distribution of liabilities. Since the man bears more liabilities than the woman, his share of inheritance is greater.

Islam gives both man and woman equal status. This equality applies to married and unmarried women alike. Under Islam, marriage is different from what is practised in most Western countries. A Muslim woman does not lose her name, civil status, and eligibility to make contracts or right of ownership when she gets married. After her marriage, she retains the surname of her own family and continues to enjoy all her rights as before, including the undertaking of any responsibility and entering into any contract, to sell, buy, pledge, make a gift or a will, etc. She also continues to enjoy her right of independent ownership. Under Islam, a married woman may have her own wealth independently from that of her husband, who may not take any part of her money. Even the most civilised of contemporary democracies do not aspire to this standard of equality between men and women. Until very recently, the status of women in France was not much better than that of civil bondage. The law deprives her of the authority to act in many a civil matter. Even when a marriage stipulates that the properties of husband and wife are to remain separate, a married woman may not dispose of anything by way of gift, assignment, mortgage or pledge, and may not come into the ownership of anything in return for some or no consideration, unless her husband is party to the contract or gives his consent to it in writing. 

Western laws emphasise this bondage imposed on women by endorsing the tradition that a woman loses her own family name the moment she gets married. She is no longer called after her father. She adopts her husband’s family name instead. This is simply a token of the loss of her legal status which is merged with that of her husband’s. Strangely enough, many of our own women try to imitate Western women even in this unjust system. They accept for themselves this low status when they adopt their husbands’ family names, instead of retaining the names of their own families as is the case under the Islamic system. They are unaware that by their action, they trample over their most important right which has been given to them by Islam to elevate them to the status of equality with men.