Saudi Women and Inheritance Seminar

After a couple of years sitting on the sidelines, mostly just reporting and commenting on what’s going on in Saudi, I’ve decided to roll up my sleeves and be proactive again. Inheritance is a topic I’ve never written about on my blog, but it’s safe to say that it is, just like many areas in Saudi, an issue where women tend to get the short end of the stick. In courtrooms where women can be arbitrarily banned from attending, and only this month has a woman been allowed to register as a trainee lawyer with the Saudi Ministry of Justice, it’s no surprise that inheritance is an issue.

Abdulaziz Al Qasim

That’s why I’ve volunteered my time and resources to help with a non-profit seminar that aims at educating Saudi women on how to obtain their full inheritance. The seminar was initiated jointly by the Business Women’s Forum of the Eastern Province and AbdulAziz Al Qasim and Associates Law Firm. The speakers are Abdulaziz Al Qasim himself, two professor from King Abdulaziz University, Dr. Hanan Al Qahtani and Dr. Ahlam Al Ouadhi and an Islamic scholar all the way from Tunisia, Prof. Amaal Grami. This is a translation of the ambitious proposal and paper titles:

Objectives of the seminar

• Educate women about family laws in Islam with emphasis on inheritance law.
• Educate women about the tools and legal means at their disposal.
• Raise awareness about women’s financial, commercial and economic rights in Islam.
• Integrate women’s economic issues within national economic strategies.
• Achieve social justice and stop illegal gender discrimination.
• Highlight how family businesses in the commercial sector can successfully apply these laws without disrupting the business or undermining a female family member’s rights.

Seminar program

Each one-day seminar is divided into two sessions. The morning session will consist of four guest speakers with considerable experience and expertise on the subject. The afternoon session will consist of a panel discussion with our guest speaker and will explore themes related to the morning sessions.

• Commercial inheritance law and women in the Kingdom, and how to best apply this knowledge.

Speaker: Prof. Abdul Aziz al-Qasim, Abdul Aziz Al Qasim and Associates Law Firm.

• The legitimate right of women to inheritance versus the current practices and outcomes.

Speaker: Prof. Hanan Al Qahtani, King Abdulaziz University

Prof. Amaal Grami

• Different approaches taken by other Arab countries with regards to Sharia inheritance laws.

Speaker: Prof. Amaal Grami, Faculty of Literature, Arts and Humanities, University of Manouba

• Achieving social justice through Sharia compliance and application, and stopping illegal discrimination

Speaker : Prof. Ahlam Al Awadhi, King Abdul Aziz University

For this seminar, I’ve created my first ever website: www.Saudiwomeninheritance.com through which women can register. And we also have a twitter account: @Saudinheritance. And of course a Facebook page.

The first seminar will be in Riyadh on Saturday May 4^th, then in Jeddah on May 6^th and finally in Khobar on May 9^th. It will be completely in Arabic and only women are allowed to register.