Jordan's Cabinet on Wednesday (June 17) approved amendments that would allow Christians to bypass mandatory Sharia inheritance rules for the first time, and to legally adopt Christian children.
The amendments, forwarded to Parliament for approval, address a long-standing issue facing Jordan's Christian minority: under current Sharia law, male heirs receive twice the share of female siblings, and in families with only daughters, part of the estate passes to a male cousin. The new measures would let Christians opt out by issuing a verified will through their ecclesiastical courts.
Retired Maj. Gen. Imad Ma'ayeh, head of the Evangelical Churches in Jordan, told Christian Daily International that he welcomes the government's decision, considering the legalization of wills and adoption an excellent step forward. "Although we would have preferred full equality in inheritance between men and women, the government's decision is a good step forward. Furthermore, legalizing adoption for Christian families is a merciful solution that addresses the problems of many families, and provides legal shelter for Christian children," he told Christian Daily International.
Engineer Nidal Qaqish, a member of the Orthodox Society in Jordan who played an active role in the process, told CDI that the government's approval of the change is intended to protect family rights, especially those of families with only female children. In the current application of Islamic Sharia, part of the inheritance of a family with only female children goes to a male cousin.
Qaqish said the initiative began nearly two years ago through work led by Senator and former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Raja'i Muashar and involved a voluntary committee that communicated with Christian MPs and senators, as well as church figures. The existing mandatory Sharia law gives males twice the portion of inheritance given to their female siblings.
He emphasized that a will would not be mandatory for all. "A will is not mandatory, and anyone who does not want to organize their inheritance through a will has the right to do so, but in such a case, the inheritance will be distributed according to Sharia Law," he said.
While a majority of Jordanian Christians have been calling for regulation giving equal distribution of inheritance to both male and female children, a number of Jordanian landowners and tribal leaders, who are largely men, have opposed any change that would weaken the current male-biased system.
Member of the Jordanian Parliament Hayel Ayash told Milhilard.net, a Christian news website, that the bill provides Christian families with greater flexibility in organizing the distribution of inheritance in accordance with the testator's wishes and within the framework of regulations to be established by law and relevant systems. "This is a positive step that many members of the Christian community in the Kingdom had long awaited," he said. He also emphasized that the amendments reflect the Jordanian state's approach of respecting the privacy of all segments of society and empowering each group to manage its affairs according to its religious and social specificities.
Father Rifaat Bader, a Catholic priest who runs Abouna.org, told CDI that while he welcomes the decision, he feels disappointed that it did not go far enough to ensure equality between males and females, as the majority of Jordanian Christians want.
Qaqish argued that the will can help protect women's rights in inheritance matters. He said it is also intended to address circumstances in which families do not have male children, allowing the will to include daughters and the mother in a way that is both legal and consistent with Christian belief in the equality between men and women.
In his interview with CDI, Qaqish said the will gives its owner the authority to distribute the inheritance as they see fit, within the limits of protecting children's inheritance rights. "When organizing a will, its owner has the authority to distribute their inheritance in the way they see fit, except for totally depriving any of their children of inheritance," he said.
In a direct reference to evangelical churches, Qaqish said there is an effort to find solutions for churches that issue marriage certificates but lack an ecclesiastical court for matters such as divorce, inheritance and adoption. He pointed to discussions involving representatives of evangelical churches and the World Evangelical Alliance to unify the legal framework for Christians so that personal status mechanisms are available to all without exception.
He added that adoption would be addressed for the first time in Jordan as part of the reform, aiming to organize adoption within Christian families in a manner suited to the nature of the issue. On whether adoption could include children from countries such as Egypt or Syria, Qaqish said that at this stage, officials do not want to enter scenarios involving other countries.
Qaqish said he hopes the law will take effect within six to seven months and called for unity among Christians despite denominational differences. "I hope the Christians have one heart, and that we work together — no matter the differences in our denominations or convictions — for the interest of everyone and the good of the entire society," he said.
