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to defend the tribe or bring in booty. So, the property of a man who
had only female children was distributed among their uncles.
the dead man's brothers).
1
(i. e.
Depriving the woman of a share in the inheritance was not practised
by Pagan Arabs only. this Practice was common among many other nations.
For example, in ancient Greece, the woman could not inherit property,
and she was even treated as a commodity and was considered as a part
of her custodian's wealth. It was suggested that "Follwwing the death
of a Greek woman's father, his inheritance was distributed among her
brothers. And, if she had no brothers, she was to be amrried tp the
oldest heir. So, she was a part of the inheritance from which she
had nothing. Her son from'such a marriage was to belong to the mother's
father. and was to be given into custody la. .
ter on.,
Moreover, -in the same way, in Hamurabi Is law, women were deprived of the
right to inherit.
In the Roman society, during the times of the first republic, a man
was the head of his family. He had the proprietor's rights over his
gn
wife and childIfie was the religious and political leader of his
family and he was the person who was charged with all his family affairs;
he was responsible for buying, selling, contracting and running all
the affairs of his family. The woman had status relative to the man
and even legally she had no consideration as feminity did not provide a
qualification for such consideration, just like childhood or madness. 3
Also, the- Hebrew woman did not have a share in the
1, See al-KIMA, al-Bahiyy. al-lsl; m was al. Marl ahal-Mule; srah (Islam and
The Contemporary Woman). P. 201
2. Bayyham. Muhammad, Al-Mar I ah fi- al-Tar7kh wa al-SharA 7., quoted by
al-Hzrfr, op. cit., P. 339
3. Bar Muhammad, Mabildila al-Qarrun al-Roman"I*, P. 107, quoted by"Arfa
Sulaiman, HuqZ7q al-Marah ff'al Islgm', P. 32
2
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