Analysis of Inheritance Distribution in Quran Based on Audience’s Customary Practices

The threefold verses of Sūrah ʾAl-Nisā provide a detailed legislative framework for the laws of inheritance. In understanding these verses, it is important to have an understanding of the history of inheritance as well. In the tradition of Arabs before the advancement of Islam, men who were blood relatives of the deceased directly or via other men, were considered his/her heirs. Closer relatives would deprive more distant ones of their inheritance rights. Inheritance verses were revealed in such a context, with the purpose of determining a share for those who were deprived of inheritance. Therefore, the Quran has not written the rules of inheritance in vacuum, but rather in accordance with the existing norms and as corrective measures. This cultural background reveals the reason why some relatives have specific shares of the inheritance while others do not have that. On the other hand, the allocation of certain shares from the inheritance to non-heir members in the pre-Islamic custom could lead to the deprivation of those without a share or the excess sum of shares beyond each other. It seems that in order to solve these challenges, one should use the proportion of the heir’s shares in comparison with each other instead of proportioning the shares of heirs to estate.