Islamic Women and Their Rights to Inheritance Essay

The story of the prodigal son from the story of the bible as well as the Lawsuit by Naguib Mahfouz explores various important aspects associated with inheritance. Inheritance is a cultural practice that has existed for many years. It is associated with the practice of passing on titles, debt, wealth and property to an individual. It offers entitlement in the form of wealth to a person called an heir after a person dies. Terms laid down in a will usually govern inheritance. However, sometimes people do not leave behind a will, and in this case, it is governed by intestate laws. Heirs only get inheritance upon the death of the person. The issue of inheritance has caused a lot of debates in the society especially in relation to matters of gender. Women have for many years been left behind when it comes to aspects of wealth and inheritance. Inheritance is a factor considered in many societies as belonging to men, and it is for this reason that many women in many societies suffer as a result of poverty caused because of lack of entitlement when their parents or spouses die. The two stories explore different perspective s to the issues of wealth and inheritance. They explore the different perspective between inheritance for both men and women in the society. They both explore the role of women play in the society based on the factor of wealth and inheritance. In most cases, women do not become heirs, and this is a factor that has caused them to become very vulnerable to poverty and other social problems. This paper will, therefore, explore the issue of inheritance based on the perspective of the two stories.

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The lawsuit is a story of a family conflict associated with problems of inheritance. The second and younger wife sues the first wife and her family for inheritance after the husband dies. The narrator explains that at first the first family's perception of the second wife was very negative because she was viewed as a woman only looking to cause trouble. However, these perceptions change after the narrator begins to understand that she is only pursuing legal actions to protect herself from poverty. It is based on an Egyptian culture which is mostly Islamic, and this means that the second wife has very little chance of succeeding in her legal pursuit. On the other hand, the story of the prodigal son forms the Bible explores the issue of family inheritance and forgiveness. The younger son asks for his share of his father's wealth and is given. He, however, uses it unwisely and ends up wasting all of it. He is then subjected to a life of poverty where he has no food. He is forced to taking care of pigs because he gets the chance to eat their food. He, however, decides to go back home where his father is happy to see him. He is accepted back home with open arms and is forgiven. However, in the case of the story of the prodigal son, the situation is different because the son receives his inheritance before the death of his father which is quite different from the contemporary culture associated with inheritance (Mahfouz).

Different cultures have different perspectives when it comes to issues of inheritance. In most of the cultures of the world one aspect prevails and it is associated with inequality is the distribution of inheritance. Women mostly suffer because of negative aspects of gender in the society. The story Lawsuit explores inheritance based on the Islamic culture. The Quran specifies that men women are equivalent when it comes to rights which transcends to matters of wealth and property. Like men women also have a share of wealth left behind by parents and spouses. However, in Islamic culture, there is more pride in men than in women. Most of the wealth goes to the firstborn son, and in most cases, girls are deprived of the inheritance. Boys and men, therefore, receive more when it comes to inheritance in the Islamic culture, and this is a factor that causes many problems when it comes to matters of wealth distribution. There is also the existence of another major conflict which is caused by the fact that a Muslim man can marry multiple wives. However, in the event of death, the first wife and family usually consider themselves more entitled to the wealth and inheritance. The story of Lawsuit shows such a situation where the first wife and the society, in general, want to deprive of the second wife of the right to inherit and has, therefore, left her in poverty to the point of seeking legal actions. On the other hand, the story of the prodigal son explores the entitlement given to boys and men when it comes to matters of inheritance. Despite wasting away all the wealth given to him by his father, he is accepted back home with open arms. There are different approaches to inheritance and therefore, different consequences which can be seen in either of the two stories (Mahfouz).

References

Mahfouz, N. (n.d.). The Lawsuit. An Introduction to Fiction.