I've just been reading a quite disturbing thread over on the BBC Religion & Ethics message boards. The OP reads as follows:
My aunt's father passed away. She has three brothers and two sisters. There is an inheritance involved and according to sharia law it has been ruled that the females will get one half the share of the male siblings. The reason Allah ordered the division this way is that women have the right to be taken care of by the males in the family. It is in Surah 4.
The inheritance is substantial and now my aunt is insisting that she get an equal share which goes against the God given law. The two other sisters have agreed to abide by sharia.
Has any one else been through this predicament before. We are afraid that if my aunt goes to British courts, I am not sure she has the right to, it will be an ugly scene because the other siblings will not accept any settlement that is not Islamic.
What have some of the other experiences been? How was the dispute resolved according to Islam and to the satisfaction of all?
Now, what disturbs me about this topic is the fact that this character thinks it's okay for his family to try and bully his aunt into ceding half her inheritance through Shari'ah law when she clearly does not want to nor should she need to, plus she really seems to need the money.
Check out the rest of the thread here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213236?thread=6113779&skip=0&show=20One of the things that finally drove me away from 'the straight path' was the way in which I was being encouraged in a bullying manner by others to adhere to the most stringent form of Islam. I also witnessed my elderly father-in-law get 'bullied' by his youngest and most religious daughter into growing that stupid, mustacheless beard that is so popular with older, South Asian Muslim men. I also have a sneaking suspicion that my mother-in-law, who never wore hijab until about the last 10 years or so was similarly coerced into donning the raincoat over the sari and the ginormous headscarf.
What I find quite ironic is that even though Islam teaches one to respect their elders and seek their advice, at the same time these same elders and not quite so elders are being bullied and coerced into practices or situations which they don't particularly agree with.
How many of you who came from Muslim families have experienced this type of bullying and coercion from siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins?
Topic: Islam and bullying