A Jurisprudential reflection on Article "944" of the Iranian Civil Code (Wife inheritance from husband in diseases leading to death)

Document Type : Research (Normal Review)

Authors

1 Graduated Student in 4th Level of Qum Hawza Ilmiyyah & Lecturer in Islamic Teachings Department at University of Qum, Iran.

2 Doctor of Private Law and Lecturer in Law Department, Islamic Azad University of Zarghan, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

In Islamic and Iranian legal systems, divorce in cases where the husband is dying of an illness is distinct from other forms of divorce. Article "944" of the Iranian Civil Code stipulates that the wife could take inheritance from his dead husband within a year of her husband's death in cases where she has been divorced by her ill husband before his death, provided that she has not taken another husband and that her husband has died of the same disease. The references for this judgment are some seemingly contradictory and conflicting hadiths whose authenticity and the unification method needs to be investigated jurisprudentially.  The article makes no difference between different kinds of divorce, and the wife is absolutely worthy of the inheritance. However, the Shiite jurists (Faqihs) have different judgments regarding the wife's inheritance in irrevocable divorce. Supporting the wife is said to be the wisdom behind the judgment mentioned above. Nonetheless, it raises this question whether such potentially deadly situations as snakebite, accident and those cases where the person is sentenced to blood-vengeance could be annexed to the judgment regarding the inheritance of wife in a divorce of the dying patient? Moreover, as the Islamic jurists differ in opinion concerning whether the judgment could exclusively be assigned to the wife or not, the issue needs to be carefully examined. Referring to the Shiite jurists' fatwas and comments regarding the judgment, the researchers of this study seek to resolve the ambiguities in the article, arguing that the death of the patient in less than a year of the same disease, and the fact that the illness led to the death are the primary requisites for the inheritance of the wife from her dead husband, provided that she has not remarried.  This is an exceptional judgment specific to the divorce of the dying male patient and could be extended to the divorce of the dying female patient, i.e., The husband does not take inheritance from his ill wife. According to some hadiths, the inflication of harm stipulation has no particularity; therefore, the wife takes inheritance from her sick husband in all types of divorce, including the revocable and irrevocable divorce, the divorce by mutual agreement, and the divorce at the wife's instigation. Furthermore, the hadiths narrated in this regard are specific to the divorce of a dying male patient and do not include potentially deadly situations and conditions.
Keywords: Patient, Wife, Inheritance, Revocable Divorce, Irrevocable Divorce, Dying Patient.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Article Title [العربیة]

نظرة فقهیة إلى المادة "944" من القانون المدنی الإیرانی (میراث الزوجة من الزوج فی المرض المؤدی للوفاة)

Abstract [العربیة]

فی النظام القانونی الإسلامی وفی القوانین الإیرانیة یختلف طلاق المریض المشرف على الموت عن غیره من أنواع الطلاق، جاء فی المادة "944" من القانون المدنی الإیرانی: إذا طلّق الزوج زوجته فی حال المرض وتوفی خلال سنة واحدة بعد تاریخ الطلاق بنفس ذلک المرض ترثُ الزوجة من هذا الزوج وإن کان الطلاق بائناً، بشرط عدم زواج المرأة. دلیل هذا الحکم روایات متعارضة أو متزاحمة بالظاهر، وهناک حاجة لدراسة فقهیة لصحة أو سقم الجمع بینها وأسلوب ذلک الجمع.





ولا تمیّز هذه المادة بین مختلف أنواع الطلاق؛ فالزوجة المطلقة لها الحق فی المیراث مهما کان نوع الطلاق، فی حین أنّه یوجد اختلاف فی الرأی بین فقهاء الإمامیة حول میراث الزوجة فی الطلاق البائن، وقیل أنّ فلسفة هذا الحکم هو الحفاظ على مصلحة الزوجة، وفی المقام یوجد إبهام حول إمکانیة إلحاق بعض أسباب الوفاة بمرض الموت من قبیل لدغة الحیة، والحروب، والحوادث، والقصاص؟ کما یوجد اختلاف بین فقهاء المسلمین حول تخصیص هذا الحکم بالمرأة من عدمه.





عمد الباحث فی هذه الدراسة إلى إزالة الإبهامات الموجودة فی المادة القانونیة؛ وذلک عبر مراجعة أقوال وفتاوى فقهاء الإمامیة ووصل إلى نتائج تثبت أنّ موت المریض فی أقل من عام بعد الطلاق وموته بنفس المرض وانتهاء المرض بالموت هی جمیعا أسباب تؤدی إلى حصول الزوجة المطلقة على المیراث؛ بشرط ألا تکون قد تزوجت، وهذا الحکم الاستثنائی خاص بطلاق المریض ولا یمکن تعمیمه على طلاق المریضة، وعلیه لا یرث الزوج من الزوجة المریضة بعد الطلاق، ولا خصوصیة لقید الإضرار الوارد فی بعض الروایات، والزوجة ترث الزوج مع توفر الشروط فی هذه الحالة فی جمیع أنواع الطلاق؛ کالخلع والمباراة والرجعی والبائن، کما أنّ الروایات الواردة تتحدث فقط عن موت المریض ولا تشمل الحوادث الطارئة کالحروب والتصادم والقصاص وغیرها.

Keywords [العربیة]

  • المریض
  • الزوجة
  • الإرث
  • الطلاق الرجعی
  • الطلاق البائن
  • المریض المشرف على الموت

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