Dear Madam,
The following information may kindly be read.
Every religion is guided by its own personal laws including the property laws. Under Muslim Law , there is no distinction between ancestral or self-acquired property. Every property belonging to a deceased is considered as heritable property.
As a result, after the demise of the person, the property is distributed among its legal heirs as per the shares mentioned in their personal laws.
The Muslim law in India are not codified laws and thus are governed by the 2 schools of Muslim Personal laws:-
- Hanafi: Under Hanafi School, daughters do not have any right in the property of her father. It recognises only those heirs whose relation to the deceased is through male.
- Shia: Under the Shia school, the daughters are given rights in the share of the property; they are given ½ of the share of the son in the property.
So basically daughter’s right in property under Muslim Law is given only under the Shia law. Here are the following rights available:-
- The daughters have absolute rights in the propertythat they inherit and are legally allowed to manage, control and even dispose of their respective shares in the property.
- The daughters have the right to share ½ of the share given to the son in the property, which means the son has double the share that the daughters get in that property.
- If she does not have a brother, she only gets half of the shares in that property.
- She also has the right to stay in her parent’s house until she gets married and get maintenance as well from her parents.
- Under Muslim law, the person holding the share in the property cannot dispose of more than 1/3rd of the share inherited by them by way of will.
Property rights of a daughter in Islam
Under the Muslim law, the rules of inheritance are rather strict. A son takes double the share of a daughter, on the other hand, the daughter is the absolute owner of whatever property she inherits. If there is no brother, she gets half a share. It is legally hers to manage, control, and to dispose it off as and when she wants.
She is also eligible to receive gifts from those she would inherit from. This is contradictory because she can inherit only one-third of the man's share but can get gifts without any hassle.