http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=94035&d=23&m=3&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Friday, 23, March, 2007 (04, Rabi` al-Awwal, 1428)
Women's Inheritance: When Protectors Become Abusers
Razan Baker, Arab News
JEDDAH, 23 March 2007 - In a Muslim country whose judiciary is Islamic,
many Saudis continue to subscribe to the pre-Islamic way of doing things and
ignore Islamic law by denying women their inheritance. The vast majority of
such cases happen in villages and rural parts of the Kingdom.
One woman was deprived by her father-in-law, who is also her paternal
uncle, from seeing her two boys after her husband died two years ago unless she
forfeited her rights to inheritance. This woman was forced into a marriage with
her husband, 30 years her senior, who was also already married. To him she was
more like a nurse than a wife, who took care of him during his last days. Since
her husband died two years ago, this woman has only seen her two boys once by
mistake and that was with the help of her sister who is married to her late
husband's brother.
The woman has been allowed to keep her two daughters and has filed a
lawsuit to regain custody of her sons, which is still pending. According to her
lawyer, the woman prefers to remain silent about her inheritance as she fears
the consequences of what her in-laws may do. "It is not enough that my sons
have lost their father. My in-laws are also depriving them from having a
mother, although I am alive. This is unfair," she told her lawyer recently.
Arab News conducted a survey among 25 women, who have been denied their
inheritance. These women were brave enough to participate in the survey and
opted to not reveal their names and cities. They are not the only ones, there
are many others.
Eighteen of the women knew what their inheritance rights were, while
seven did not. Eight were over 40 years of age, seven between the ages of 35
and 40, three between the ages of 30 and 35 and another three between 20 and 25.
Nine of these women were married, eight were single, five were divorced
and three were widowed. All, except one, were unhappy that they had not
received their inheritance. Twelve had also been threatened if they filed a
lawsuit against their families.
Eighteen women complained that it was mostly their uncles and brothers,
being the women's legal guardians, who deprived them of their rights. Four said
it was their cousins and two were afraid to reveal the identities of their
abusers.
Seven of these women have been suffering from five to ten years. Another
six have been suffering for over 10 years, eight have been suffering from one
to five years, and three for less than a year.
The survey showed that 17 of the women were also taking care of other
family members including parents, children and grandchildren. Nine also
suffered from sickness.
Fifteen women said the main reason behind them not filing a lawsuit was
because there was no one to help them do so. Some women said they did not know
how to, others cited tradition and culture and some said they were afraid of
what their family's reaction would be. Seventeen of the women also said they
had no other financial source.
Lawyer Khaled Abu Rashed said there are two reasons why women face these
problems. Firstly, some people - men and women - abstain from implementing
Islamic law in their lives and prefer to opt to live lives according to
pre-Islamic traditions that prefer men over women. Secondly, men abuse women's
limited knowledge of their rights and use this against them. "That is why these
cases are mainly found in rural areas," he said.
Mutlag Al-Najrani, another lawyer, also believes such cases are more
commonly found in rural areas and among tribal families. He said there are five
main reasons behind this injustice. The first is tradition and culture that
limits the role of women to taking care of children and staying at home.
Secondly, some men believe women are careless spenders and so look after their
money to prevent them from spending unscrupulously. Thirdly, the system makes
it difficult for women to manage their own finances without a legal agent and
so many men assume control of their women's money. Fourthly, some families fear
their married female family members will forcefully arrange for their husbands
to take positions in family businesses and so, in order to prevent this, these
families prevent them from a share of their inheritance. The fifth reason that
Al-Najrani cited, and which he described was a common reason, is when a wife's
family forces her to give up her share of inheritance to prevent her husband,
who is considered to be out of the family, from accessing the family's
inheritance.
Abu Rashed added that both men and women are to be blamed. Men, because
they misuse the trust and authority that they have been given, something which
is against the teachings of Shariah. "Women are to blame because they are
supposed to be educated. If they only read the Qur'an they would learn what
their inheritance rights are, which are written clearly in Chapter Al-Nissaa,"
he said.
Both lawyers added that women need to exercise patience and that it may
take years for such cases to be resolved. This depends on the amount and type
of inheritance concerned and the number of heirs involved. "Sometimes having
properties in different places in the Kingdom and having heirs living abroad
can force lengthy delays," said al-Najrani.
"We shouldn't blame courts when these cases take a long time to solve...
At the end of the day, our courts always award these women their rights. It is
just a matter of getting past technicalities. They just have to stand for
themselves and their rights even if this is difficult. In our society it is
difficult for women to stand up against their brothers, uncles and guardians in
general. However, in many cases inheritance is the only financial source for
women. They have to take this step to survive," said Abu Rashed
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