Islamic Religious Knowledge Questions and Answers

But Arabia before Islam was a society where there were no rules, except that the strong dominated the weak. It seems reasonable to expect that a natural byproduct of such society would be the oppression of women. In fact, alongside the examples of strong and independent women, there are numerous reports of women having an inferior status. Female infanticide, for instance, was practiced by fathers who did not value their daughters as much as they valued their sons. In areas, such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, women were often deprived of their basic rights: to choose their husbands freely, to divorce if ill-treated or to inherit from their families.

In pre-Islamic Arabia, a variety of different marriage practices existed. The most common and recognized types of marriage at this time consisted of: marriage by agreement, marriage by capture, marriage by mahr, marriage by inheritance and Mutah or temporary marriage.
Prior to Islam, in the Arab world, women could not make decisions based on their own beliefs and had little control over their marriages. They were never bound by contract for marriage or custody of children and their consent was never sought.

In Islamic law, only relatives with a legitimate blood relationship to the deceased are entitled to inherit. Thus, illegitimate children and adopted children have no shares in inheritance. In general, a full brother will exclude a half-brother who shares a common father ("consanguine brother), but not a half-brother who shares a common mother. In cases where a deceased man leaves a pregnant woman, the unborn child's share will be reserved. Also a woman during the time of waiting (ʿiddat) after divorce is considered a wife of the deceased for purposes of inheritance.

The custody of a minor child in Islam is called Hizanit, which literally means the care of the infant. As per the Shariat law that applies to Muslims, the father is considered to be the natural guardian of his children irrespective of sex, but the mother is entitled to the custody of her son till the age of 7 years and of her daughter till she attains puberty.

Zihar is illegal and considered an insult in the Islamic law. It implies that the man, declaring his wife akin to his mother or sister, is guilty of the sin of forbidding the lawful things. It has been proscribed by law and the act does not ensue in divorce. It is condemned in the law.