Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Shawki Allam, said on Monday that equality in inheritance between males and females is contradicting Islamic law and all Muslim scholars are against the call for equalising females with males in inheritance.
Allam said in a statement that the Holy Qur’an detailed the way of sharing inheritance and these texts are expressly established and Ijtihad is not applied on expressly established texts from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
According to the Islamic Sharia males inherit double what a female would receive in some cases, but there are severe cases that females inherit more than males. Changes of the cultural context does not matter in the case of authentic texts “Qur’an and Sunnah” that are unambiguous and fully expressed.
The mufti mentioned in his statement a number of Quranic verses which prove that the topic of inheritance is closed as the Quranic text is clear and unambiguous. Islam is keen on equalising between males and females but the amount of inheritance does not depend on gender, but Allah’s will.
He stressed that Islam supports women’s political, societal, and educational rights, but also stressed that Dar Al-Iftaa will counter any attempts for changing Islamic Sharia.
Allam’s remarks came following the Tunisian President Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi approved a law to equalise males and females in inheritance. The call was rejected also by Al-Azhar.
