مملكت خداداد پاکستان کے صوبہ سندھ میں حق میراث براے خواتین کے موانع

Impediments to the Women’s Right to Inheritance in Sindh; the Province of Pakistan

Abstract

Islamic sharī‘ah has outlined human rights for all individuals; men, women, adults, and minors. It has placed strong stress on the rights of women ranging from their right to education to their right to inheritance. However, these rights are violated across the globe and Pakistan is no exception. Several cases of women’s rights violation have been discussed and one of the most commonly violated rights is their right to inheritance. Women are not given their fair share in inheritance although they are entitled to inherit according to the sharī‘ah and Pakistani law. This violation has also been observed in the province of Sindh which consists of 94 tehsils of 23 districts, and 18 towns. This paper discusses women’s inheritance issues in urban and rural areas of Sindh. There are some local customs which lead to the deprivation of women from inheritance like “wanī, kārōkārī, wattah sattah, marriage with the Qur’ān, court marriage, dowry, etc. A survey questionnaire was administered in all the districts of rural and urban areas of Sindh which yielded significant results. According to the findings, only 35% of women inherit their share whereas 30% of women relinquish their share willingly and 10% of women are unaware of their rights. The rest of the 25% of women are forced to give up their inheritance. Some recommendations have been mentioned to eliminate the adverse effects of these customs and raise awareness of women about their legal rights and the responsibility of the state in this regard.