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Justice and Beauty in Muslim Marriage: Towards Egalitarian Ethics and Laws
Many contemporary Muslim family laws rest on patriarchal concepts. The time for change is now.
The model of marriage constructed in classical Islamic jurisprudence rests on patriarchal ethics that privilege men. This worldview persists in gender norms and family laws in many Muslim contexts, despite reforms introduced over the past few decades.
In this volume, a diverse group of scholars explore how egalitarian marital relations can be supported from within Islamic tradition. Brought together by the Musawah movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, they examine ethics and laws related to marriage and gender relations from the perspective of the Qur’an, Sunna, Muslim legal tradition, historical practices and contemporary law reform processes. Collectively they conceptualize how Muslim marriages can be grounded in equality, mutual well-being and the core Qur’anic principles of ‘adl (justice) and i hsan (goodness and beauty).
The model of marriage constructed in classical Islamic jurisprudence rests on patriarchal ethics that privilege men. This worldview persists in gender norms and family laws in many Muslim contexts, despite reforms introduced over the past few decades.
In this volume, a diverse group of scholars explore how egalitarian marital relations can be supported from within Islamic tradition. Brought together by the Musawah movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, they examine ethics and laws related to marriage and gender relations from the perspective of the Qur’an, Sunna, Muslim legal tradition, historical practices and contemporary law reform processes. Collectively they conceptualize how Muslim marriages can be grounded in equality, mutual well-being and the core Qur’anic principles of ‘adl (justice) and i hsan (goodness and beauty).
416 pages, Paperback
Published December 13, 2022
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January 31, 2023
As usual, Musawah’s global network gives a broad overview of innovative thinking and collaborative action toward gender equality in Muslim family life. Some chapters are largely philosophical or theological, which may seem abstract, but the arguments are important for invalidating old presumptions of superiority or “guardianship” for men over women. As Faqihuddin Abdul Kodir puts it, in Islam “there is no intermediary between God and God’s viceregents, and there is no one who can become a god for others.” Applying that moral standard “requires changing from patriarchy to reciprocity, domination into cooperation, hegemony into equality and competition into collaboration.”
Other chapters explore the history of patriarchal interpretation, in which the gendered forms of the Arabic words used in the Quran or Hadith sayings (with the male form used as the normal default option) have been regularly interpreted as addressing and concerning men only. Lines about men’s responsibilities were interpreted as grants of exclusive male authority, and lines concerning women’s responsibilities were taken as requirements for female obedience. Teachings affirming the equality of men and women (such as Quran verses 9:71, 3:195, and 33:35) were commonly overlooked, or deemed “spiritual” but irrelevant for the practical construction of legal requirements.
The chapter “Muslim Family Laws: Trajectories of Reform” explores the strategies and successes of reform movements across the Muslim world. For example, it examines how Moroccan communities organized to officially equalize the legal rights and responsibilities of husbands and wives, presenting this as a fulfillment of Islam’s spirit of equality, rather than a cultural “innovation.” The authors also trace the march of movements to criminalize domestic violence (or violent “discipline”), which achieved at least formal success in Jordan (2008), Iraqi Kurdistan (2011), Saudi Arabia (2013), Lebanon (2014), Algeria and Bahrain (2015), Tunisia (2017), Morocco (2018), Indonesia (2019), and Kuwait (2020).
Other chapters look at ways for people to foster social and personal change in their own relations, going beyond a legalistic view of religious values. On this, I want to quote a paragraph by Nevin Reda:
“Today in the emerging field of Islamic spiritual care and psychotherapy, scholars and practitioners recognize that there are different methods of communication that can also affect behavioral change beyond direct commands and prohibitions. A counsellor may use narrative therapy, ask questions, or utilize theological reflection, empowering or assisting their client to find solutions to everyday problems in their journey of healing and growth.”
Concerning wife–husband relations, Sa’diyya Shaikh observes that “Since marriage in Islam is a contract, it is open to negotiation, rethinking and reconstruction in ways that remove patriarchal accretions and create more spiritually and emotionally nourishing alternatives for justice-seeking Muslim communities.”
Last, I just want to mention that the chief editor, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, is my hero.
Other chapters explore the history of patriarchal interpretation, in which the gendered forms of the Arabic words used in the Quran or Hadith sayings (with the male form used as the normal default option) have been regularly interpreted as addressing and concerning men only. Lines about men’s responsibilities were interpreted as grants of exclusive male authority, and lines concerning women’s responsibilities were taken as requirements for female obedience. Teachings affirming the equality of men and women (such as Quran verses 9:71, 3:195, and 33:35) were commonly overlooked, or deemed “spiritual” but irrelevant for the practical construction of legal requirements.
The chapter “Muslim Family Laws: Trajectories of Reform” explores the strategies and successes of reform movements across the Muslim world. For example, it examines how Moroccan communities organized to officially equalize the legal rights and responsibilities of husbands and wives, presenting this as a fulfillment of Islam’s spirit of equality, rather than a cultural “innovation.” The authors also trace the march of movements to criminalize domestic violence (or violent “discipline”), which achieved at least formal success in Jordan (2008), Iraqi Kurdistan (2011), Saudi Arabia (2013), Lebanon (2014), Algeria and Bahrain (2015), Tunisia (2017), Morocco (2018), Indonesia (2019), and Kuwait (2020).
Other chapters look at ways for people to foster social and personal change in their own relations, going beyond a legalistic view of religious values. On this, I want to quote a paragraph by Nevin Reda:
“Today in the emerging field of Islamic spiritual care and psychotherapy, scholars and practitioners recognize that there are different methods of communication that can also affect behavioral change beyond direct commands and prohibitions. A counsellor may use narrative therapy, ask questions, or utilize theological reflection, empowering or assisting their client to find solutions to everyday problems in their journey of healing and growth.”
Concerning wife–husband relations, Sa’diyya Shaikh observes that “Since marriage in Islam is a contract, it is open to negotiation, rethinking and reconstruction in ways that remove patriarchal accretions and create more spiritually and emotionally nourishing alternatives for justice-seeking Muslim communities.”
Last, I just want to mention that the chief editor, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, is my hero.
Displaying 1 of 1 review