Why So Little About Women?

Since this is the end of Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, after all the discussion in between, a question naturally arises: if it is Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, why is there only a small discussion of women in it? That is simply the pattern with most of the long sūrahs: they treat of one matter only in the sense that they are named for one aspect, which need not be discussed throughout. So Allah brings it back to that subject — not women alone, but women and the whole question of inheritance. Hence this last verse, 176:

Yastaftūnak: they ask you for a fatwā concerning those who die leaving no heirs, or only certain heirs — how is that to be dealt with? There is no need to enter into all of it here. But this is the verse which lays down that, generally, when brothers and sisters inherit together, the brothers receive double the share of the women. One of the chief reasons for that — inheritance is not being treated in detail here, but one of the chief reasons for brothers receiving double the share of sisters, or daughters half the share of sons, is that men generally have to spend on the women throughout. The father must spend on the daughter until she is married, and the husband must then spend on the wife after she is married. Women have no such responsibility. That is why women in fact end up receiving a great deal more than through inheritance alone. In inheritance they receive less, because men carry responsibilities: that money is already spoken for. If a man inherits something, he will have to pay it out: as a father, perhaps as a brother, certainly as a husband, and as a father to his children besides; whereas mothers are not responsible for the wealth, for the spending. So it balances out. Indeed, women end up having to spend less; in inheritance, men must do more of the spending, in general, if a survey were taken. That response may not be widely heard, but statistically it is a very, very good one. On every other aspect, Allah knows best.