Short answer
In Islam, yes. God (﷾) fixes a share for the daughter, the mother and the wife, and for the sister in some cases. In the Bible, only sometimes. In Islam, a daughter inherits alongside her brothers. A mother inherits from her child. A wife has her own share: a quarter, or an eighth if there are children. A son receives twice a daughter's share, because Islam puts the cost of the family on him. What a woman inherits is hers alone. In the Bible, the Law of Moses names the sons first. A daughter inherits only when there is no son, and the widow is not named among the heirs at all. So the Qur'an gives the daughter, the mother and the wife each a share fixed by God (﷾). The Bible's Law does not.
Full explanation
A share for men and a share for women
The Qur'an opens its law of inheritance by giving women a fixed right. This holds whether the estate (all that the dead person leaves) is small or large. It then sets the shares. Daughters inherit alongside their brothers. If there are no sons, one daughter receives half the estate and two or more share two-thirds. The mother inherits a sixth or a third. The wife receives a quarter of her husband's estate, or an eighth if he leaves children. These shares are fixed by God (﷾). They are not left to the goodwill of male relatives.
“From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large,-a determinate share.”
“Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth.”
“In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts.”
Why a son receives twice a daughter's share
In Islam the man must pay for the household. He gives his wife her dower (the gift a husband gives his wife at marriage). He also supports his wife, children and needy relatives from his own means. A woman has no duty to pay for the household, even when she is wealthy. What she inherits, earns or receives as dower is hers to keep. Ibn Kathir (a scholar of the fourteenth century who explained the Qur'an) gives this as the reason for the double share. The son's portion comes with the cost of maintaining others. The double share is not the rule for every man and woman. Where the deceased leaves a son, the father and the mother each receive the same sixth. And where a man or woman leaves no parent or child, a brother and a sister each receive the same sixth under 4:12. Muslim scholars read that verse as speaking of brothers and sisters through the mother.
“Let the man of means spend according to his means: and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what Allah has given him. Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him. After a difficulty, Allah will soon grant relief.”
“And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, Take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.”
“And in no wise covet those things in which Allah Hath bestowed His gifts More freely on some of you than on others: To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: But ask Allah of His bounty. For Allah hath full knowledge of all things.”
On the verse of inheritance, Ibn Kathir explains that the male receives twice the female's share because he must bear the cost of maintaining others, along with the labour of trade and earning and the hardship that comes with it.
“Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth.”
“If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one).”
| Heir | The Law of Moses | The Qur'an |
|---|---|---|
| Daughter | Inherits only if there is no son (Numbers 27:8). | Always inherits, with or without brothers (Qur'an 4:11). |
| Wife | Not named among the heirs (Numbers 27:8-11). | A quarter of her husband's estate, or an eighth if he leaves children (Qur'an 4:12). |
| Mother | Not named among the heirs (Numbers 27:8-11). | A sixth or a third (Qur'an 4:11). |
| A daughter who inherits | Must marry within her father's tribe (Numbers 36:8). | What she inherits is hers alone. |
A son receives twice a daughter's share because Islam puts the cost of the family on him: he must support his wife, children and needy relatives. She has no such duty.
The order of heirs in the Law of Moses
Numbers 27 lays down who inherits in the Law of Moses when a man dies. His sons inherit. A daughter inherits only if there is no son. After her come his brothers, his father's brothers and his nearest kinsman (nearest relative in his family). The wife he leaves behind is not named anywhere in the list. A daughter who did inherit had to marry within her father's tribe. This kept the land inside his tribe.
“And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
“And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.”
The Bible also gives a double portion
The Law of Moses gives the firstborn son a double portion over his own brothers. So a double share is not strange to the Bible. The difference is the reason. Deuteronomy gives birth order: "the right of the firstborn is his". In Islam the scholars tie the son's share to his duty to provide.
“If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.”
How Christians answer
Christians point to the daughters of Zelophehad, who had no brothers. God (﷾) granted their request, so daughters gained a right they had lacked. They add that Job gave his daughters an inheritance among their brothers. Many also hold that Israel's civil law does not bind Christians. Each point is answered below.
“And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
“And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.”
Point by point
Numbers 27:8-11 — Torah, Bamidbar, chapter 27, verses 8-11
“And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Cited for
God answered the daughters of Zelophehad. The Law gave daughters an inheritance and so protected women.
The response
The ruling was given because their father died without sons. It made the daughter an heir only when no son exists. A daughter with a brother still receives nothing, and the widow is still left out. The Qur'an gives the daughter a share whether or not she has brothers. Under Numbers 27 a daughter with no brother takes the whole estate. But the list names no widow or mother among the heirs. The Qur'an gives a lone daughter half and fixes shares for the mother and the wife too, so they are not left out.
Where it lands — The Law protects the daughter only when there is no son. The Qur'an protects her in every case.
Numbers 27:8-11 — Torah, Bamidbar, chapter 27, verses 8-11
“And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Cited for
This was Israel's civil law. Christians are not bound by it, so Numbers 27 is not the Christian rule.
The response
Then the Bible gives Christian women no law of inheritance at all. The New Testament sets no share for a daughter, a wife or a mother. The only order of heirs in the Bible is Numbers 27, which it calls a statute. In it the daughter comes after the son, and the widow is not named. The Qur'an fixes a share for each of them by God's (﷾) command.
Where it lands — Setting the Law aside leaves Christian women with no scriptural share at all.
Job 42:15 — Ketuvim, Iyov, chapter 42, verse 15
“And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.”
Cited for
Job gave his daughters an inheritance among their brothers, so the Bible honours daughters as heirs.
The response
The verse records what one father chose to do. It is not a law. The statute "as the Lord commanded Moses" remained Numbers 27. In the Qur'an the daughter's share is a law fixed by God (﷾), not a father's kindness.
Where it lands — A father's gift in one story does not change the Law's order of heirs.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
The Law of Moses served ancient Israel. Numbers 27 protected daughters in its own setting, and Christians are not bound by Israel's civil law.
God granted the daughters of Zelophehad their father's inheritance, which Christians read as the Law protecting daughters.
Rebuttal
True, God (﷾) granted their request. But the ruling made a daughter an heir only when there was no son. The Qur'an gives the daughter a share whether or not she has brothers (4:11).
Job gave his daughters an inheritance among their brothers.
Rebuttal
It is a kind act, but the verse records what one father chose, not a law. The law stayed Numbers 27. In the Qur'an the daughter's share is a law fixed by God (4:7).
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) Himself fixed a share for women: for the daughter beside her brothers, for the mother and for the wife. The Bible's Law gives the daughter a share only when there is no son. It names no share for the widow.
In Numbers 27 a daughter inherits only if there is no son, and the widow is not among the heirs.
A daughter who inherited had to marry within her father's tribe.
The Qur'an gives men and women a fixed share, whether the estate is small or large.
The Qur'an gives daughters a share alongside their brothers, and gives the mother a share. It gives the wife a quarter or an eighth.
The son's double share matches his duty to pay for the household, a duty the daughter does not carry.
The Law of Moses also gives a double portion, to the firstborn son over his brothers.