The Economic System of Islam — Page 62
62 among his family members immediately after his death according to the Islamic law of inheritance. Islam does not allow anyone to leave his estate to any single heir, but instead his property must be dis- tributed to all legal heirs. All sons and daughters are given a legal share, as well as parents, wife, and husband, and, in certain in- stances, even brothers and sisters. The Holy Quran clearly states that no one is allowed to deviate from these rules and pass on his property to a single heir. Islamic law forcefully distributes a person’s property after his death to all legal heirs, and every relative must be given the share prescribed in the Holy Quran. It is surprising that while people favour interest, which causes great financial inequity in the world, they are against the enforced distribution of the wealth of a deceased among all legal heirs. Instead, they allow a single son to inherit the entire estate, thereby causing wealth to remain perpetually concentrated in a single family. However, in the Islamic system no matter how wealthy a person, his wealth will be redistributed, generation after generation until his progeny is at the same level as the average person. In this way no matter how large an estate or how vast a person’s wealth, it cannot last more than a few generations. After this time, the succeeding generations would feel the need for generating their own wealth. The reason for the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few rich people in Europe and the United States is that, under the British law, the eldest son can inherit the entire property, and in the United States, a person may pass on his entire wealth to just a single son. Thus, other children, parents, brothers and sisters, or the spouse may be left with nothing. Sometimes the super-rich bequeath a large part of their inheri- tance to the eldest son to preserve family legacies and leave only