Refuting the Suspicion that Says:“ The Heritage of the Female is half that of the Male”

it is true and correct that the verses of heritage in the holy quran includes his saying (swt) “allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females

” (1). but a lot of those who try to arouse suspicions around the woman’s eligibility in islam using the differentiation of the standards of inheritance in islam do not know that granting the woman half the share of the man in inheritance is not a general standard nor is it a rule of a thumb in this matter. the holy quran did not say that allah (swt) directs you in inheritance and heirs that the male’s share is equal to two of the females…. it said allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females

 which means that this rule is not uniform in all cases, it only applies to a limited number of cases of inheritance.

a true insight in the philosophy of islam as regards inheritance would reveal the fact that the shares are not based on the standard of being a male or female. such philosophy has divine aims that were concealed from those who tried to use the discrepancy of the shares of the males & females to arouse a suspicion around the women’s full eligibility in islam

the difference in the shares of the heirs (male or female) in islamic inheritance is based on three standards

first
 the degree of kinship between the heir (male or female) and the testator. meaning that the closest in kinship the heir is, the more his share becomes and the more distant in kinship the heir is from the deceased the less his share becomes regardless of the sex of the heirs

.second 

 the placement of the heritor generation among the time sequence of the generations. the generation which is about to embark on the journey of life and bear its responsibilities usually has a bigger share than the generations which are older and approaching life’s end. these older generations who are getting free of life’s responsibilities or even more having their financial responsibilities imposed on others regardless of the sexes of the heirs. for instance, the daughter of a deceased has a bigger share of inheritance than his mother and both are females. the daughter’s share is bigger that the father’s even if she was an infant and even if the father was the source of the son’s wealth which she inherits half of. also the son inherits more than his father and both are males. such standards of islamic inheritance encompass a number of heavenly aims and lofty intensions that are concealed from many, such standards which have nothing to do with being a male or a female

third

  the financial burden that the islamic jurisdiction imposes on the heir towards the others. that is the only standard that results in the difference in shares between male and the female. but it is a discrepancy that causes no oppression towards the female nor does cause any depreciation of her rights, the contrary might even be more correct. in case the heirs were of the same degree of kinship, the same placement in the heritor generation i.e. the sons and daughters of the deceased, then the difference in the financial burdens imposed on each will be the main reason for the difference in the shares. that’s why the holy quran did not generalize the rule of such discrepancy throughout the whole inheritance process, it limited such ruling in one case saying “ allah (thus) directs you as regards your children’s inheritance to the male, a portion equal to that of two females “ and did not say that this verdict is general to all males & females

the reason behind such difference in this case is that the male is required to sustain the female –the wife- along with their kids. whereas the female heiress (sister to the male heir) is to be sustained along with her children by her husband not by her own. even though her share of inheritance is half that of her brother, she is more privileged and distinguished through the fact that her share is