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The Woman's Inheritance in Pre-Islamic Arabia
The issue of women's inheritance in Pre-Islamic times is
contraversial. Some argue that she had a share in the inheritancep
others that she never had such a share.
Some sources state that the general practice during that time
was to distribute the inheritance among the 'adult males (not
females); men who could ride a horse and who could use a sword;
i. e. among male fighters.
As Levy remarked, 'In Jahiliyyah, only they could be heirs ,
who took their share of duty in tribal battle in guarding tribal
property .....
therefore women were excluded from-inheritancee
So. in most cases, a woman was deprived of her right to a share of
her inheritance. Sometimes the woman herself. as a widow. was
included in the property to be inherited by her step-son, as
mentioned previously. As Smith mentioned. 'So far as the widow of
the deceased is concerned. Ahis is almost self-evident; she could
not inherit because herself part of her husband's estate whose
freedom and land were at the disposal of the heir. ' 2
However, the right conclusion seems to be that we cannot
generalize the statement that all women were deprived of their
inheritance; since some women could obtain some property. for example.
women had to pay sums of money in order to free themselves from the
ban on marriage imposed on them by some men. However. even though
a woman did not share the inheritance,
-there were some women who were
known for their wealth. ' For example, Khadija bint Khuwyylid was a
1) See Levy. op. cit.. P. 96
2. Smith, 'op. cit,. 'P. 117
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