Islam and Inheritance Conflict in Wa, Ghana

Abstract

The Islamic scholarship looked at inheritance from many academic disciplines. It looks at it from the exegetical, financial and estate planning, jurisprudential, mechanistic, and historical and gender points of view. These studies affirm the primary function of Islamic inheritance as a system that transfers wealth from one generation of Muslims to the other. It spells out the heirs, their qualifications and corresponding shares each heir is entitled to. The system also prescribes the application of the regulation thereof on the devolution of the estate of the prepositus. One of the objectives of the system is to prevent estate related conflicts among Muslims. Paradoxically, conflict does emerge among some Muslims over inheritance and estate distribution. In view of this, the current thesis sought to find out factors that are responsible for the conflict, using the Waala Muslim community of Ghana as the site for the study. In doing so, the qualitative method of data collection was employed. Primary documents, in-depth interviews and observation were employed in collecting data from the field. Apart from greed and grievance from heirs, the study pointed out that inequality and deprivation are primarily responsible for the inheritance conflict phenomenon in the community. For the phenomenon to be curtailed, not only is there the need for the root causes to be addressed but also the need for a multifaceted approach for the resolution of the conflict. Besides, Muslim clerics could reinterpret and apply Qur’ān (4:7) to apportion estate to such people who serve the deceased (as non-heirs) throughout their lives without commensurate compensation. Furthermore, there is the need for the enactment of a comprehensive law by the state to address Muslim inheritance issues in Ghana.