Islamic Feminism: An Intersectional Approach for Understanding the Inheritance Laws of Iran

Kanak Mishra
Jindal Global Law School, India

Volume II – Issue I, 2020

From time immemorial, the transfer of properties across countries has been taking place through a process called ‘Inheritance’, which refers to a unilateral transfer of property. This concept, however, is solely equated under ‘moral’ footings. This is problematic because inheritance runs deeper than morals and the ideas of ‘good and evil’ (Genealogy of Morals, Fredrich Nietzsche) to more sophisticated socio-political structures and factors.

This paper shall be an attempt to explore in-depth the concept of inheritance by studying the inheritance laws of Iran to understand the status quo of these laws in comparison to their relevance as in the past. It would involve an analysis of these laws through the lens of Islamic feminism and how these laws affect the wives, daughters, widows, sisters and illegitimate children born in Iran. In recent times, feminism has evolved to imbibe within itself, traditional and intersectional perspectives, thereby realizing the lived experiences of all. Islamic feminism is always pitted against Western feminism, but this paper would attempt to re-define this supposed conflict as independent theories capable of co-existing. The paper would conclude with a comparative analysis of the inheritance law framework in Iran along with drawing a parallel to the inheritance law framework in India.

 

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