This Women’s Day will be particularly memorable for Dr. Sheena Shukkur, director of the law department at the University of Kannur, and Advocate Shukkur C., a senior attorney of the Kasaragod bar, as they get ready to wed again on March 8.
Dr. Sheena, 51, formerly the pro vice chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi University, and Shukkur C, 53, a Malayalam film actor on occasion, have been married for 29 years and have three daughters as a couple. Fatima Jebin, 20, a student from Chennai, Khadeeja Jasmine, 26, a law clerk for Justice Rama Subrahmanian of the Supreme Court, and ninth-grader Fatima Jezah. Then, why are they getting married again? The answer is simple, they don’t have a son.
Daughters not eligible to inherit estate
According to contemporary Islamic law, should the couple pass away, their three children would not be entitled to the entire estate. In Muslim personal law, there are three categories of heirs: sharers (Qur’anic heirs), residuaries, and distant relatives (Sunni). The residuaries do not have the claim to a specific portion of the deceased’s property, whereas sharers do. After the sharers have taken their share of the estate, they should occupy the remaining piece. The deceased’s descendants, ascendants, and collaterals are considered the remote kindred heirs.
A daughter is a prescribed sharer if she does not have a brother. She becomes a residuary heir, if she has a brother. Islamic scholars read this tradition to mean that, after the daughter takes her prescribed share in the case of no brothers, the balance of the estate goes to the closest male relatives. If the deceased has left behind more than one daughter, all daughters jointly take two-thirds of the property.
Shariah law governs inheritance
‘The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937 states that the Shariat governs Indian Muslims’ inheritance. Yet, it is not defined by legislation. Thus, the 1907 book ‘Principles of Muhammadan Law’ by DH Mulla is frequently used by our courts. According to this book, our daughters would only be entitled to a third of our estate in the event of our passing, with the other portion going to our siblings. This is only a result of the absence of a son,’ says Lawyer Shukkur.
The attorney continues, ‘It is sad that Muslim women were subjected to this prejudice in a nation where Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees equality to all citizens.’
‘We were involved in two vehicle accidents in 2017 and 2020, and we were only saved by good fortune and our seatbelts. Then we started thinking about what would happen to our daughters in the event that something occurred to us. This conclusion was made after several of our lawyer friends expressed a similar viewpoint,’ says advocate Shukkur.
‘When we made it public, many well-wishers, including the judicial officers with whom we have communication with, appreciated us. I have not come across any objections from the community leaders yet, but Shukkur has,’ said Sheena Shukkur.
‘Obviously, there will be negative comments on the social media which we ignore as it’s outnumbered by the positive ones. We will be more than happy if our decision inspires even a single person that too on a Women’s Day,’ added Dr Sheena.
They will cease to be ‘Muslims’
When Sheena and Shukkur’s marriage is officially recognised under the Special Marriage Act of 1954, they will no longer be considered ‘Muslims’ for the purposes of inheritance. As a result, when they pass away, their assets won’t be distributed to the heirs. Their property will be inherited in accordance with the rules of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and Muslim inheritance law will come into play. Now days, a lot of people use this approach, according to Dr. Sheena Shukkur. ‘Yet due to pressure from the community, few are ready to share it.’
Quran Sunnath Organization, based in Kozhikode, filed a writ case with the Kerala High Court in 2008 asking the court to declare that Muslim inheritance customs are against constitutional principles. According to the petitioners, the Shariat law which is applicable with regard to succession in Muslim Community is based on misinterpretation of various Quranic principles.
They said that the Muslim community discriminates against females based on sex when it comes to inheritance, with daughters receiving a smaller portion than sons. The misinterpretation of the holy Quranic verses as it is currently applied in India results in blatant discrimination against only female children, while sons who inherit their mother’s or father’s property are not required to share any inheritance with anyone other than the deceased’s spouse and parents.
There is a distinction about succession between Shias and Sunnis as well. If a deceased Muslim happens to leave only daughters, those daughters will not get a share equivalent to that of the share she would get if she was a male and will have to share the properties along with not so close relative of the deceased. At the same time, if the deceased leaves only a male child, he takes the entire property needing to share it only with the spouse and parents of the deceased. It will lead to brazen discrimination among Indian citizens only on the ground of sex.
Can’t decide petition: Kerala HC
The Kerala High Court panel, presided over by the then-chief justice Ashok Bhushan, determined that it could not decide the petition and instead left it to the legislature to consider the issues and draught a new law. As the petitioner filed an SLP against the high court’s order, the issue is currently being considered by the Supreme Court.
‘It is time to amend the personal laws. Many Islamic nations have updated their laws to reflect modern society. Only the male representatives from Muslim religious organisations were called by the government for a meeting on this matter and it has agreed with their position that neither the state nor the judiciary had the authority to interfere with Sharia law and Muslim personal law,’ says VP Suhara of NISA, a progressive women’s organisation that has impleaded in the case.
The majority of traditional Muslim organisations are vehemently against this action. They think that the commitments envisioned by the religion impact how inheritance is determined. Male family members only have a duty to protect the parents and the family; women are not subject to this duty.
According to MM Akbar, a prominent Mujahid religious lecturer, a person’s estate should be divided in accordance with Shariat if they lived and died in accordance with Islamic religion. The descendants of this person should have obtained it from their parents rather than the government if they want it in other ways.
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