An Independent Legal Personality
0
0 
Islamic law gives women full independent legal personality. She can maintain her
maiden name after marriage, and she can enjoy an independent in relation to
earning money and spending it:
22
“Men shall have a benefit form what they earn, and women shall have a benefit
from what they earn.: (4:32)
So, the Quran explains the women’s rights of inheritance as independent
individuals, as it has been mentioned previously.
A testimony of a women is equal to that of a man in principle, and each has to be
evaluated according to one’s intellectual and moral merits in a given case.
Considering two women equal to one man as legal witness for a credit provides a
special case not a general rule – as the prominent jurist, Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1356),
rightfully pointed out. The Qur’an is clear on the rule and gives strong reason for
that special case:
“O You who have attained to faith! Whenever you give or take credit for a stated
term, set it down in writing… And call upon two of your men to act as witnesses;
and if two men are not available, then a man and two women from among those
who are acceptable to you as witnesses can be called upon. So that if one of
them should make a mistake the other could remind her….” (2:282)
This provision does not imply any inferiority of a woman physically or morally. It
refers to a general observation that some women may not be interested to keep in
their memories such financial details, or be familiar with the legal aspects that
should be accurately noticed since they might be reported.
The situation may be different in case of an educated woman who enjoys a good
memory or who works as a lawyer or an accountant. Jurists and judges in courts
have to consider the changing circumstances. Sometimes a women may be the
only reliable witness, or her testimony may outweigh that of a man or several men
according to the judge’s discretion. If our juristic heritage allows a woman to be a
judge when she is qualified for the position, how can her testimony be underevaluated if she knows what she is testifying about?
