Webinar calls for bolstering women's inheritance rights

AMMAN — Experts and religious leaders have called on women to be vigilant about their inheritance rights and to constantly seek advice and legal support to safeguard their religious rights.

The call came during a webinar session via Zoom, organised by Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI), titled: “Depriving Women of inheritance: Alternatives and Solutions”, which is part of the organisation’s "Sanabel 1" project that aims to promote the economic and financial rights of women and girls in Jordan.

“It is of utmost importance for women to constantly educate themselves about their inheritance rights and on what the law and Sharia [Islamic law] stipulates to guarantee that they would not be tricked into waiving their inheritance rights,” said SIGI Executive President Asma Khader.

She pointed out that her organisation dealt with cases whereby “women were tricked into signing official papers to waive their inheritance rights by their male relatives, who convinced them that there are only limited funds and property available only to discover later that there are more property and funds that were not disclosed and they end up losing everything”.

“Other women are subjected to obvious and hidden cultural pressure rather than religious pressure by their male relatives to waive their inheritance rights. Many women yield to these pressures so that they would not anger their fathers or brothers,” Khader added.

Women should never give up their inheritance shares until the inheritance is confirmed in the name of the heirs and they are fully aware of the available funds and assets, Khader stressed.

Meanwhile, Inspector at the Sharia Courts Judge Jamal Tamimi stressed the “urgent need” for women to enhance their knowledge and awareness about their inheritance rights, adding that reform in issues related to “women and inheritance can only be done with a holistic view".

Judge Zeid Kilani from the Supreme Judge Department (SJD) warned that “violating women’s inheritance rights and attempting to prevent them from inheritance is one of the grave sins in Islam”.

“The SJD is keen to ensure that women receive their full inheritance rights as stipulated in the Sharia and any attempt to deprive them of their inheritance will reflect negatively on the family and cause societal instability,” Kilani said.

The participants agreed that efforts should be exerted to constantly raise women’s awareness about their inheritance rights through school curricula, the media, family and society as a whole.

The experts also called for empowering women economically and supporting them with legal services free of charge in the event they seek judicial actions to guarantee their rights.

The gathering also called for the importance to conduct a national study to determine “the most prevailing problems related to women and their deprived inheritance rights”.