Review on Issues and Challenges in Islamic Inheritance Distribution in Malaysia

Abstract

This paper addresses issues and challenges clients face in claiming rights to Islamic inheritance in Malaysia. After independence, Muslims witnessed changes in the legal system of Malaysia that affected the administration and distribution of Islamic inheritance. The administration of Syariah courts is bound by Islamic Laws that were placed in the State List of the Federal Constitution. Constitutional amendments are called for; they may simplify the processes involved, but not without conflict. The Muslims’ need to abide by Syariah-compliant principles has also not been able to push for the construction of one single complete system that can handle the whole management and distribution process of Islamic inheritance. Over the years, claim processes were very costly and time-consuming. This paper acknowledges that there exists a low awareness among clients of processes and procedures to follow in order to complete a claim submission process, and identifies lack of guidelines to be the main cause of the problem. This paper is a part of an on-going study that proposes to use a new network flow programming model as an alternative solution to issues and problems associated with the administration and distribution of Islamic inheritance in Malaysia.

Keywords: Constitutional Amendments, Islamic Laws, Network Flow Programming, State List, Syariah-Compliant