Mst Halima v. Muhammad Kassam and Others, 1999 MLD 2934 (Pakistan)

The case addresses the unequal sharing of inherited property between male and female siblings. The court noted that the law of inheritance in Islam is exceedingly strict and the shares of male and female children are well-defined. It explained, however, that the inequality between the shares of male and female children in Islamic law of inheritance is by no means a declaration of a female’s inferiority in status and thereby lending sanction to the practice of depriving females of their right of inheritance. According to the court, the provisions regarding a female child being entitled to half the share of the male child is wrongly interpreted by attributing immutability to it and perpetuated only because of male chauvinistic attitudes in society. Islam, by giving half a share to females, only lays down the lowest limit and not the highest. It is, however, possible for an Islamic state, through the exercise of ijtihad (independent reasoning), to increase the female’s share.