The claim: "4:11 gives 'the male twice the female's share.' The Qur'an values women at half."
What the verse says, and its context
- 4:11 gives, in a specific case (children), "twice the share to the male" — but this is not the only rule; in many inheritance situations a woman receives equal to or more than a man.
- The Qur'an establishes a share for both: "For men and for women there is a fixed share of what is left." (4:7)
- The reason for the asymmetry is not worth but financial obligation: the man bears paying the dower and maintaining the family (4:34); a woman's wealth is her own, with no duty to spend it. "Men have a share of what they earn, and women have a share of what they earn." (4:32)
An honest limit
This is a rule tied to the era's structure of economic responsibility, not to a woman's worth. One may still find this explanation insufficient and question the asymmetry by today's notion of equality — that is a domain of interpretation / evaluation. We present both the verse's own rationale (financial burden) and the fact that women are not disadvantaged in most inheritance cases; the inference "a woman is worth half" is not the text's necessary conclusion.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented soberly and respectfully, with a text/interpretation distinction.