Islamic Law of Inheritance: The Case of Illegitimate Child and Possibility of Having an Assets of Deceased Father: A Tanzanian

Abstract

There is a plea which suggests that, the Islamic law of inheritance is provided injustice to its followers. The reasons which are given by those who said that, is that, it gives a male child double share of a female, also among other things it excludes an illegitimate child.  By doing that, it goes against the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and article 3 of African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which prohibits discrimination based on among other things sex or birth and also article 13 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 which says all people are equal. Again, section 5 of the Child Act, 21 of 2009 prohibits any kind of discrimination based on gender, religion, birth etc. This article will address the question of inheritance according to Islamic law and the position of an illegitimate child under Islamic law. It will be argued that, the illegitimate child has no right to inheritance from his biological father, however, there is a room for them to have something which can support their life from the property of the natural deceased father, if a father wish to do so before his death.

Keywords: Islam, Inheritance, Child, Illegitimate Child, Will, Gift, Tanzania