MINISTER OUTLINES INHERITANCE ISSUES UNDER ISLAMIC LAW

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysis), Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Community Development and
Consumer Affairs Minister Azizah Mohd Dun has outlined three issues which she
said has brought about complications in matters related to inheritance under the
Islamic law.

They are the hiding of information on heirs, the issue of non-Muslim heirs
and the division of inheritance.

She said hiding information on heirs were among problems identified in the
division of inheritance in Islam.

For example, she said, there could be a situation where a deceased's
property can be inherited by five heirs but only four were brought forward to
the Syariah Court.

"When the hidden heir retaliates and brings the case to the court, the
hearing will take time due to greed on the part of the heirs who have the
domination over the hidden heir.

"The neglected heir would want to defend the inheritance under the Syariah
Law; thus, the burden of proof lies with the person and he or she has to come up
with a strong evidence for the Syariah Court's perusal," she in her speech at a
seminar on Islamic Inheritance Law, here Thursday.

Her speech was read out by Sabah Women Affairs Department director, Siti
Sapoo Ahok.

Azizah, a former magistrate, said confusion also arose when the deceased
leaves behind non-Muslim heirs.

She said that according to Islamic inheritance law, non-Muslim heirs were
not entitled to inherit the deceased's property.

"Even if the claims are brought up at the Civil Court, it will not be heard
because the judge does not have the jurisdiction to deal with it," she said.

Azizah said the division of inheritance according to the Farid law was seen
to be unfair to women as male heirs were given a bigger portion of the
inheritance compared to the female heirs.

However, she said, this was because the males were responsible for their
parents and female siblings eventhough they had their own families to support.
-- BERNAMA