By Horizon TV Reporter, June 30, 2025 The Supreme Court of Kenya has ruled that children born out of wedlock are entitled to inherit from their deceased muslim fathers estate. Delivering the landmark ruling, the court stated that all children regardless of marital status of their parents have equal rights under the constitution. The ruling was  in the case of Fatuma Abud Farah v. Ruth Faith Mwawasi & 2 Others. At the heart of the Supreme Court’s reasoning was Article 24(4) of the Constitution, which provides: “The provisions of this Chapter on equality shall be qualified to the extent strictly necessary for the application of Muslim law before the Kadhis’ courts, to persons who profess the Muslim religion, in matters relating to personal status, marriage, divorce and inheritance.” The Supreme Court interpreted the phrase “to the extent strictly necessary” as requiring a rigorous application of the principle of proportionality. In other words, any departure from the general constitutional guarantee of equality must be narrowly tailored, reasonable, justifiable, and necessary. This means that Article 24(4) is not a blanket exemption allowing Islamic law to override the right to equality under Article 27 of the Constitution. Instead, it permits only limited and justified exceptions in strictly necessary circumstances. The Court held that excluding children born out of wedlock from inheriting their father’s estate, based solely on their birth status, is unreasonable and unjustifiable. Such exclusion fails to meet the threshold of necessity and proportionality required under Article 24(4). Therefore, it violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection and benefit of the law. The supreme court affirmed that the best interest of the child must be paramount in any matter concerning children including inheritance. What This Means Inheritance Law: All biological children of deceased Muslim fathers in Kenya—whether born in or out of marriage—are legally eligible to inherit. Islamic and Constitutional Law in Harmony: The Court asserted that while Islamic values are respected, they cannot override constitutional guarantees for children’s rights