IIS Senior Research Associate Dr Mohammad Rasekh has published a new book exploring how Muslim inheritance jurisprudence can respond to changing family structures and contemporary understandings of fairness and justice.
Muslim Inheritance Jurisprudence Revisited examines the principles underpinning Sunni and Shi‘i inheritance law and asks how rules developed within earlier social contexts might be interpreted in light of the realities of Muslim life today.
Inheritance has long been an important area of Muslim jurisprudence (fiqhThe science of Islamic jurisprudence.), governing questions about how an estate is distributed among family members. Dr Rasekh examines several issues that have become increasingly significant in contemporary contexts, including the inheritance rights of women, the position of children and grandchildren, differences of religion among heirs, and the changing economic relationships within families.
The book examines how Islamic inheritance jurisprudence can respond to changes in family life, including evolving family structures and the changing economic roles and responsibilities of women and men. It considers how these developments affect the assumptions on which established inheritance rules were based, and the scope within the tradition for interpretations that reflect contemporary circumstances while drawing on Islamic principles of fairness, justice and social responsibility.
Inheritance, fairness and social responsibility
Through an examination of the Qur’anMuslims believe that the Holy Qur’an contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More, sunnah and the major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, Dr Rasekh looks at the reasoning behind established inheritance rules. He identifies, for example, cases within the existing tradition in which male and female heirs receive equal shares, showing that the principle of a male heir receiving twice the share of a female heir does not apply in every circumstance. These precedents, he argues, may provide a basis for reconsidering other aspects of inheritance jurisprudence in the contemporary context. The book also considers the relationship between inheritance and financial responsibility. Classical arguments for different inheritance shares were often connected to differing financial obligations within the family. Dr Rasekh asks what happens to that reasoning when the economic roles and responsibilities of women and men change.
The study extends beyond the family to consider inheritance as a question of social responsibility. Using Qur’anic verses and examples from the Islamic tradition concerning provision for those in need, it explores how inheritance can contribute to wider principles of social welfare and the equitable distribution of wealth. Through this analysis, Muslim Inheritance Jurisprudence Revisited contributes to a continuing conversation about interpretation, changing social realities, and the place of fairness and justice as fundamental values within Islamic law.
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Dr Mohammad Rasekh is a Senior Research Associate at IIS whose research spans Islamic law and theology, comparative constitutional law, normative philosophy, and biomedical law and ethics.
Muslim Inheritance Jurisprudence Revisited is available in paperback and ebook formats. It is also available open access to read online or download free of charge.
