A Woman’s Inheritance is Half a Man’s!!

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Equality (or in this case, inequality) between the sexes is a very controversial topic in the modern Islamic world. Muslim countries are advancing and trying to catch up with the west, yet women and men cannot have equal rights because Sharia Law states that the value of a woman is half of a man.

A Woman’s Inheritance is Half a Man’s

According to Islam, if someone dies, the inheritance would be divided among the children. This division is NOT equal. The women only get HALF of what the men get.

Qur’an (4:11) – “The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females”.

So that means that if a man had 3 children (a boy and two girls), each of the daughters would only get 1/4 of the inheritance while the son gets 1/2.
Excuse
The excuse given is that women do not have any financial responsibilities since they are only “daughters, housewives and mothers”. They say that the man is always the financial provider and that he would need more money than a woman.
This was probably the case 1,500 years ago, but, obviously, times have changed since then. Today, women are educated, they have good jobs, and sometimes have to be the providers for their families as well. This just shows that these laws are ancient and cannot apply to the modern world.

A Woman’s Testimony is HALF as Valuable as a Man’s

In Sharia Law, when an Islamic court requires the testimony of 2 people, the witnesses have to be two men. If two men are not available, then they have to be a man and two women.

Qur’an (2:282) – “And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women.”

Excuse
The excuse that I was given was that women are very emotional and they might allow their feelings to cloud their memory and judgement. They also say that since women go through hormonal changes, because of their menstrual cycles, they are not always of sound mind because their “intelligence is diminished”.
To me, the excuse is worse than the law itself! The idea that our biological cycles somehow diminish our mental intelligence is absurd! And the fact that they think a man’s testimony is twice as reliable is proof that Islam is a male-chauvinistic religion.

Polygamy is Allowed for Men

In this case, a woman is actually worth 1/4 of a man. Men (and only men) are allowed to have up to 4 wives. This does not include the concubines, sex slaves and temporary marriages that are allowed for men.

Qur’an (4:3) – “Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four”

Excuse
My Islamic teacher used to say that a man can have more than one wife because:

• Sometimes the wife cannot get pregnant and give him any children.
• The wife might be sick and cannot perform her “sexual duties”.
• The man might have a really high sex drive and one wife just cannot satisfy him.
• The are more women than men in this world (because many men die at war and generally have a lower life expectancy). Since the woman-to-man ratio is higher, it is better to have more than one wife per husband (so they don’t have to stay un-married).

That last excuse really makes me laugh sometimes. Really? You couldn’t come up with anything better? Just pure ignorance!

The Blood Money (Diyah) of a Woman is HALF a Man’s

If someone accidentally kills a Muslim man or a Muslim woman, they are required to give “blood money” to the victim’s family as a fine. In Sharia Law, the money you pay for killing a woman is HALF of what you pay for killing a man.
Excuse
The excuse most people give is that when a man dies, the financial loss is much greater than a if a woman dies. This is because the woman is only a “housewife” and does not usually bring in any income.
Again, this is the 21st century, and no matter how they spin it, Islam is still an ancient, male-dominated religion where a woman is “literally” worth half a man.