The death of her husband plunged 60‑year‑old Moroccan widow Meryem into a profound crisis. In an interview with the Moroccan magazine Mag Equality in February, she explained that her vulnerability stemmed not only from grief but also from the legal battle that followed.
“I find myself alone, facing his family, treated like an enemy even though I built this life with him for 30 years,” she said, requesting anonymity to avoid retaliation from her late husband’s relatives.
Meryem’s husband had purchased an apartment in her name to secure her future. Shortly after his death, his relatives claimed the property in court, invoking the Sharia‑based inheritance rule known as *taasib*. Under *taasib*, when a deceased man leaves daughters but no sons, male relatives inherit substantial portions of the estate alongside the daughters and widow.
A Moroccan court eventually ruled in Meryem’s favor, confirming that her husband had legally transferred the apartment to her during his lifetime—a provision allowed under Islamic inheritance law.
“It’s the only thing I have left, and I rent it out for a modest income,” Meryem said, adding that her other assets—a car and bank accounts—remain entangled in inheritance disputes.
“We regularly see cases where the husband dies and the wife has to leave the marital home because the property must be divided among the heirs,” said Dörthe Engelcke of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Private Law in Hamburg.
“If widows were allowed to remain in their marital homes, it would be an incredibly significant change and would greatly enhance the social stability of surviving wives,” she told DW.
Many women are denied their full inheritance
Although governments in the Middle East and North Africa have expanded women’s rights in areas such as domestic‑violence protection, family law and legal autonomy, inheritance reform remains one of the region’s most sensitive issues, according to rights advocates and scholars.
“In general, sons continue to receive twice the inheritance share of daughters because, so the reasoning goes, unlike daughters, sons are expected to provide financially for their families,” explained Elham Manea, adjunct professor at the University of Zurich and author of *The Arab State and Women’s Rights: The Trap of Authoritarian Governance* (2011).
“In practice, however, this assumption increasingly does not reflect social reality. Many women are denied their full inheritance while receiving little or no economic support from male relatives,” she added.
Opponents of reform argue that equal inheritance for women could cause assets to pass outside the family through marriage. “Regardless of its empirical validity, this concern has historically shaped resistance to reform,” Manea said.
Another deep‑rooted factor is the perceived illegitimacy of many Arab regimes, which leads rulers to rely on alliances with conservative tribal, religious or Islamist actors to maintain political survival.
“Progress has been gradual, not because reform is impossible, but because it is intertwined with questions of regime stability, political legitimacy and state‑society relations,” Manea noted. “Family law is not merely a legal issue; it is deeply political.”
Amel Hammami, a Tunisian law expert based in Warsaw, distinguished two sets of Quranic rules. “Religious rules govern the relationship between Allah and people and cover devotions such as prayer, pilgrimage and fasting. These rules are irrevocable,” she said.
“The second set governs relations between people—inheritance law, family law, penalties. Modifying inheritance law does not contradict the Quran; it aligns with Islam’s goals of justice and human emancipation,” Hammami added.
Progress on women’s rights is slow across the Middle East
Other discriminatory laws are increasingly being challenged or reformed. Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Morocco have all enacted measures expanding women’s legal autonomy, though the scope and impact vary.
Saudi Arabia has sharply reduced its male‑guardianship system since 2019. Tunisia legally recognizes men and women as equal citizens, sharing family expenses equally.
In Syria, Rafif Jouejati, deputy chair of the Syrian Liberal Party, plans to advocate for inheritance law reform, she told DW in December.
Egypt is currently discussing a reform of the family‑law framework, which includes divorce and custody provisions.
In Morocco, activists are pressing for changes as part of the ongoing family‑code reform launched by King Mohammed VI in his July 2022 Throne Day speech, which emphasized strengthening women’s rights. One proposal seeks to protect the marital home from being divided among heirs after a spouse’s death.
Hope for the next generation
“There are good reasons to expect continued pressure for change,” Manea said. “Younger generations are generally more educated, and women’s groups across the region have become increasingly organized and assertive in demanding legal reform and greater equality.”
Legal change, however, is unlikely to result solely from activist efforts, she noted.
“The future of reform will depend not only on legal advocacy but also on building broader social support and reshaping public understandings of justice, rights and gender relations,” Manea said.
Amel Hammami agrees. “Why women should receive equal inheritance rights is no longer the question. The question is: Why shouldn’t women receive equal inheritance rights?”