Description

Laws, Justice and Rights for Women in the Modern Era
Editor: Prof. Dr. Yogesh Kumar Gupta, Ishan Ahmad and Premananda Murmu
Published by Universal Academic Books Publishers and Distributors,
New Delhi (India)
ISBN: 978-81-686113-5-1, 2026

Chapter 2

Inheritance Rights of Sunni Muslim Women in India: A Critical Analysis of Law, Equity, and Gender Justice

Ishan Ahmad
Assistant Professor (Law), Hamdard Institute of Legal Studies and Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi

Alisha
Advocate, Hamdard Institute of Legal Studies and Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi

Abstract

The inheritance rights of Sunni Muslim women in India constitute a significant aspect of personal law, reflecting the interplay between religious principles, statutory recognition, and constitutional values of equality and justice. Governed primarily by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 and the principles of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, the law of inheritance provides women with defined proprietary rights as daughters, wives, mothers, and other female heirs. Unlike many pre-Islamic customary practices that excluded women from succession, Islamic law recognizes women as independent legal heirs entitled to specified shares in the estate of a deceased person. However, the allocation of shares under Sunni law often differs from that of male heirs, based on the principles of Qur’anic succession and the doctrine that a male heir generally receives a share equivalent to that of two female heirs in comparable circumstances.

This paper critically examines the legal framework governing the inheritance rights of Sunni women in India, focusing on the classification of heirs, the rules relating to sharers and residuaries, and the application of the doctrines of exclusion, representation, and succession. While the legal framework formally recognizes women’s inheritance rights, the effective realization of these rights is often hindered by social customs, patriarchal attitudes, lack of legal awareness, and procedural barriers that discourage women from asserting their lawful entitlements. Adopting a doctrinal research methodology, the paper examines statutory provisions, classical Islamic legal principles, judicial precedents, and contemporary scholarly discourse to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing legal regime.

Keywords

Sunni Muslim Women, Inheritance, Muslim Personal Law, Succession and Property Rights, Gender Justice

1. INTRODUCTION

Inheritance occupies a central position in Islamic jurisprudence and constitutes a foundational component of Muslim personal law governing family and property relations. The Islamic law of succession, commonly referred to as fara’id, prescribes a structured system for the distribution of a deceased person’s estate among his or her legal heirs. Unlike many legal systems in which testamentary freedom allows individuals broad discretion over the post-mortem distribution of their property, Islamic inheritance law assigns fixed shares to specific relatives, grounded primarily in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. These provisions are designed to ensure equitable treatment, prevent the arbitrary exclusion of family members, and preserve economic balance within the family structure.