Whoever tampers with the laws of inheritance—giving a share to one who is not entitled, denying a rightful heir all or part of his or her portion, or equating male and female shares, as is done in certain unbelieving legal systems—in open defiance of Allah’s decree that “to the male belongs the share of two females,” is a disbeliever destined for eternal Fire—may Allah protect us—unless he repents before death.

The people of pre-Islamic ignorance (jāhiliyyah) used to exclude women and minors from inheritance, reserving it for adult males who rode horses and bore arms. Islam came to abolish that practice. The Exalted said, “For men there is a fixed share of what parents and close relatives leave, and for women there is a fixed share of what parents and close relatives leave, whether the estate be small or large—an obligatory share” (Q 4:7). This verse was revealed to end the pagan practice of withholding inheritance from women and children.

Likewise, His words, “Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male is the equivalent of the share of two females” (Q 4:11), and, “If there are siblings, both male and female, then the male shall have the share of two females” (Q 4:176), refute the stance of certain modern forms of jāhiliyyah that seek to make men and women equal in inheritance, opposing Allah and His Messenger and transgressing Allah’s limits. The old jāhiliyyah deprived women of inheritance altogether; the contemporary jāhiliyyah gives them what they do not merit. The religion of Islam has dealt with her justly and honorably, granting her the portion that befits her.

So may Allah fight the disbelievers, hypocrites, and atheists who “wish to extinguish Allah’s light with their mouths, but Allah insists on perfecting His light, even though the disbelievers detest it” (Q 9:32).