If a woman spends on the household, will her share of the inheritance be different?
Question The Qur'an (4:11)allocates women half a man's share in inheritance. I presume that the rule that prescribes that women should inherit half a man's share is based on the injunction in the Qur’an(4:34)that men should maintain women. My question is this: what happens if the woman (and not the man) in the family is the main breadwinner? Or, what happens if both the husband and the wife are joint breadwinners? Does this rule then still apply? Answer Praise be to Allaah. and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allaah. The female takes half the share of a male in inheritance regardless of whether she works and spends on the household or not, because this is the ruling of Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Allaah commands you as regards your children’s (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females” [al-Nisa’ 4:11] This means that if a man and woman are co-heirs, then the male’s share is equal to that of tw...