May Muslim inheritance be decided by secular succession law instead of Shariat?

The Supreme Court on Thursday, 15 April, agreed to examine the contentious issue of whether Muslims can be governed by the secular Indian succession law in dealing with ancestral properties, instead of Shariat law, without renouncing their faith.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar took note of a plea filed by Naushad K.K., a resident of Kerala's Thrissur district, that he wanted to be governed by the succession law instead of Shariat without leaving Islam as his religion.

The Court has issued notices to the Centre and the Kerala government on Naushad's plea and asked them to file their responses.

The bench also ordered tagging of the plea with similar pending cases on the issue.

Earlier, in April 2024, the bench had agreed to consider a plea from Safiya P.M., a resident of Alappuzha and general secretary of the 'Ex-Muslims of Kerala', arguing that she is a non-believer Muslim woman and wanted to deal with her ancestral properties under the succession laws instead of per Shariat.

Another similar plea filed in 2016 by the Quran Sunnat Society is also pending with the top court, which will now hear the three petitions together.