Financial Rights of Orphans in the Qur’an and Iraqi Law: A Comparative Analysis of Property Preservation, Oversight, and Enforcement Mechanisms

Abstract

Using a descriptive–analytical approach and a comparative method, this article examines the Qur’anic model for safeguarding the property of orphans in comparison with Iraq’s legal and executive frameworks. The study focuses exclusively on financial rights—from the death of the guardian until the orphan’s attainment of rushd (maturity) and the transfer of property. Key Qur’anic verses (al-Nisāʾ 2, 5–6, 10; al-Ḍuḥā 9) and core concepts such as property delivery, prohibition of commingling and unlawful consumption, and the test of maturity are identified and then compared with the juristic principles of luṭf (benevolence), lā ḍarar (no harm), and property retention. Subsequently, these concepts are analyzed alongside Iraqi laws and practices in the fields of personal status, civil law, guardianship, and post-2003 welfare policies. The findings show that the Qur’an’s tripartite logic of “preservation and transfer,” “continuous supervision,” and “enforcement guarantees” has been embodied in Iraq’s multilayered judicial and administrative structures and further strengthened after 2003 through social support mechanisms such as pensions, free education, and social housing. However, the absence of a “standard protocol for verifying financial maturity” and inconsistencies in supervisory enforcement—particularly across regions and underprivileged areas—remain significant gaps. The innovation of this article lies in proposing an operational implementation package that includes the development of financial maturity assessment indicators, the establishment of electronic asset registration, risk-based auditing, beneficiary transparency for guardians, and stricter criminalization of supervisory negligence—an integrated framework that aligns the Qur’an’s ethical deterrence with the judiciary’s legal deterrence.