B.

Shia Law of Inheritance for Women

Under Shia law, the heirs of a Muslim have been broadly divided into two
categories; namely:
1. consanguine heirs, i.e. related to the deceased by blood; and
2. relations established by marriage.

It is further divided into three classes, with the class that gets preference over the
following one.
 The list of sharers under Shia law consists of nine candidates, out of which three
are males and the remaining six are females. The widow is allotted a one-eighth
share in the presence of any lineal descendant, whereas she is allotted a one-
fourth share in the absence of a lineal descendant. The mother is allotted a one-
sixth share in the presence of a lineal descendant, or two or more full or
consanguine brothers, or one such brother and two such sisters, or four such
sisters with the brother, while in all other cases she inherits a one-third share. In
case of the daughter, full sister and consanguine sister, the situation is similar
with Sunni law. They take a share only in the absence of a son, full brother or
consanguine brother. Thus although their names have been included in the
list of sharers, in reality they are regarded as secondary and their male
counterparts are given preference over them. This is one of the most
discriminatory aspects of Muslim laws of succession and inheritance when it
comes to women.
 In Syed Ali v. Syed Muhhamad,22 the question regarding the share of a childless
widow was considered. Here, it was concluded that a childless widow only
inherits the movable property of the deceased husband. She does not inherit the
land or immovable property, but is entitled to one-fourth share in the
value of the trees and buildings standing upon it.
 Another question to be considered was the right of a spouse to the residue.
In Shia law, the Doctrine of Return applies. The doctrine states that if after the
sharers' claim over the property has been satisfied, and no residuaries are present
to take the residue, the excess share that is left comes back to the sharers.
However, a spouse can only take a share if no other heirs are present. Initially, in
 case of the death of a wife, and in the absence of any other sharers, the husband
was entitled to inherit a half-share of the property as a sharer, and the other half
under the doctrine of return. However, a widow is only entitled to inherit a
quarter-share, while the remaining part goes to the government through escheat.
In Abdul Hamid v. Peare Mirza,23 another view was adopted, which stated that a
widow was entitled to inherit one-fourth as a sharer, just like in case of her
husband, and the remaining part under the Doctrine of Return.
 The second class contains grandparents, brothers and sisters, and their
descendants. Here again, a sister is excluded from getting a share if she has a
brother, and if she doesn't have a brother then she gets a half-share
in case of one single sister, and in case of multiple sisters, the share becomes
two-thirds.
 The third category consists of aunts and uncles and their descendants. Here,
however, a distinction has been made between paternal and maternal relatives,
with the former getting double the share when compared to the latter. What this
means is that during the division of property between a maternal aunt and
paternal aunt, the former will receive only one-third, whereas the latter receives
two-thirds of the property.