Capetown, July 19: The Muslim community has lauded a watershed Constitutional Court ruling enabling widows of polygamous marriages to inherit a share of their deceased husband’s estates.
The ruling came after Cape Town widow Fatima Gabie Hassam, 62, challenged the Intestate Succession Act, which recognised only one spouse. She was married to businessman Ebrahim Hassam, who took a second wife, Mariam.
When he died in 2001, his death certificate reflected that he was never married. Hassam’s application to claim from his estate was rejected.
In 2004, she took her case to the Western Cape High Court, asking to be recognised as an heir to her husband’s estate.
The Constitutional Court this week ruled in Hassam’s favour on the grounds that the Intestate Succession Act and the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act violated her right to equality and that she had been discriminated against in terms of religion, marital status and gender.
Islamic scholar Moulana Rafeek Shah said he welcomed “any decision where the rights of women are protected in society”.
He said the ruling would provide relief to women in similar circumstances.
“For far too long, Muslim males have practised polygamy without actually considering the consequences of inheritance. If a man is to exercise his Islamic right to polygamy without understanding the spirit within which the permission is granted in the first place, he must bear the consequences,” said Shah.
“Marrying only one is the prescription, and polygamy is a permission (not based on lust) which is subject to certain stringent conditions.”
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) said that the ruling was a breakthrough and showed that the constitution looked after the rights of Muslim women and their families.
MJC spokesman Nabeweya Malick said the ruling was a “milestone” for Muslims.
“In the past, so many women have been denied their rights to inheritance, even though they were married according to religious rites,” said Malick.
“Even the children born of these marriages will now be recognised and acknowledged as being legitimately entitled to inherit from their father’s estates.”
The president of the United Ulama Council of SA, Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels, said: “This is a great victory for women in totality.”
Women’s rights activist Shabnam Palesa Mohammed said: “The dissolution of marriage isn’t a subject to be taken lightly, and society must realise the importance of drawing up wills and marriage contracts.”
-Agencies