Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
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the grace of God my younger brother and I are still
alive. My elder brother died in June 1988.
The death of our father at that time was a great blow,
not only because we had lost a loving parent, but
because of the treatment we received at the hands of
certain members of our joint family. After father’s
death, these relatives took over the management of
the entire family property. My grandfather, under
the joint family system, was the person who had
actually been entrusted with the management of the
farm. But he was so honest that he would not take a
single penny more than what was actually required
to meet the barest of necessities. After his death,
those who then took charge of the orchard exceeded
all limits of injustice in their treatment of us. From
being landowners of some substance, we suddenly
found ourselves landless. There was no easy way out
of our problems.
Our family home had been very commodious, but
after father’s death, we found ourselves in a
disused, half-ruined stable. We lacked even the
basic necessities of life, and were unable even to
find enough money to buy food. At this juncture,
