Marriage Religion and Islam- A detailed Exploration of Changing Dynamics of the Notion of Marriage from the Traditional to Modern Approach
Introduction
What is Marriage?
A man is a social animal, and cannot live in isolation, which is why human beings need others to live them in order to fulfil their mental and physical desires. The smartest level to live together is termed as the family, which is often based on the man and woman, however now the world dynamics are changing in this regard, but still, this match is the ideal for the perfect family. Moreover, the man and woman should be in the legal relationship in order to get recognition in the society[1]. The legitimate relationship of man and woman is immensely considered scared in all religious as it is considered a strong bond between two people, which makes the family. [2]
What is Marriage in Islam?
Due to the Islamic point of view, Marriage (Nikkah) is the strongest bond which makes the protective and healthy relations among the different actors of the society. Moreover, this kind of bond is responsible for constructing a healthy society, where people can live in a collaborative manner. [3]The Islamic marriage is an easy process, which comprises some certain criteria, which guarantee the well-being, security and health of the married duo along with their families and even the whole society. Since ages, the Muslim communities lived with the people with diverse ethnicity, language and race, and these factors strongly impact on the cultural and customs forms. Islam is the transparent religion, which allows a person to practice cultural diversity in multiple means; however, there is some certain limitation due to the nature of the practices. [4]For instance, Islam forbids harming any human being, regardless of its cast, creed, colour and ethnicity. On the contrary, religion strongly emphasis on the protection of all mankind, specifically women and children.
The Objective Marriage- a comprehensive Review
The holy book of Muslims Qur’an elucidates that marriage is the sacred connection between man and women, which beautifully advocates the notion of modesty in multiple ways. Moreover, the relation brings happiness, peace enjoyment and love into the lives of the married couples, and God declared it the conduit to make him happy. [5]The holy Quran cited that;
“And among His signs is this that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your hearts”[6]
Furthermore, Islam also underscored the significance of marriage by endorsing the marriage contract as the firmest agreements in Islam in order to achieve positive relations for successful lives. However, God sets particular criteria about both the man and woman, such as mutual consent as Islam condemns the forced marriages. The importance of marriage in Islam is seen as it is considered as duty (ibada).
The Flip Side of marriage in Islam- the Modified Version due to gender Equity and Equality
Though Islam gives liberty to the women in terms of giving consent prior to the man in marriage, but still in many parts of the world, marriage becomes the nightmare for the young girls and women. There are several reasons behind the dark side of marriages, which is mainly based on the patriarchal practices in Islamic societies as men are holding the dominating position in society. Furthermore, a Muslim man has the right to keep more than one wife at a time, which is the biggest perpetrator of the notion of Polygamy[7]. The large body of researchers, consider this fact as the source of discrimination degradation of Muslim women and most importantly, the human right violation. In addition, there are some similar practices, which surge the intensity of discrimination of Muslim women through different means as the Fiqh (Islamic teachings and ideologies). Apart from the critics, there is a vast body of Muslim scholars, which address these issues in relation to Islamic perceptive and gender equality. These studies are evident that Muslim scholars play a pivotal role in order to revamp the position of women in Islamic society by giving them liberty in terms of spending their lives upon their own will. [8]
Gender Bias and Islamic Marriages- the Imbalance in Relationship due to husband’s Dominance
A large number of Islamic marriages are gender-sensitive due to numerous factors, such factors include the right of taking decisions and the man’s role which creates an imbalance in terms of thrashing the equity and equality norms, Islam restricts man to perpetuate inequality in both within and outside the household; however, the cultural and societal perceptions nurture the misogynistic approach. This approach is not parallel with the Islamic teachings as Islamic beliefs strongly support women in this regard. [9]The equity and equality stance is not limited to the decision making a stance, but it could be manifest in child nurturing, the responsibility of livelihood and domestic tasks.
The Difference in Opinions- The Perceptions of Islamic Scholars
The Muslim leaders shed light on these issues on both converging and diverging manner. [10]Moreover, there are many flavors in the thoughts of these scholars, which includes Divorce (ṭalāq) rights, guardian rights, dowry issues and the witness credibility matters. Every scholar promotes his notion toward these issues with the different perceptive; however the most credible perceptions are aligned with the Islamic laws. When it comes to gender discrimination, these perceptions are more or less indulged with the patriarchy. However, Islam do not put class-ceiling effect for the women, but the society and culture is.
The term gender is referred as the socially constructed phenomena, instead of the biological difference and the true essence of Islam supports this factor. However, the society boxed this notion into two different views, which further strengthen the notion of inequity and inequality of women[11]. On the other hand, the world is moving to the equity and equality stance, which raise the notion of feminism and termed the patriarch as the example of extremism. Therefore, women rights are now are the important construct of the international debates and Islamic perceptive are deeply scrutinized by the scholars, researchers and policy makers[12]. But the dilemma is the bias approach is still infecting the whole world, but its intensity is slightly raised on the Islamic societies.
The Fabricated Notion of Gender Equality and Equity- Then and Now
The early Islamic societies are the greatest perpetuators of patriarchy as the primary books of fiqh explicitly shows immense discrimination as the women is present as the medium which was born to serve the man. Moreover, these books show that women are confined in some certain roles, such as child rearing and taking care of the families in both husband and father’s house. In addition, the women did not get the fundamental rights, which include proposing marriage, acting on family problems and significantly the rights of seeking divorce along with many other elements. However, the basic objectives of Islamic law almaqāṣid al-aḥkām al-shar’iyyah were missing from the historical accounts in this regard. This kind of bias thoughts is grounded in the superficial understanding of the Islamic legal texts. For instance, there are numerous narrations, which illustrates the brutal face of gender discrimination, such as “they have to submit themselves completely to their husband and it is also said that women cannot become leaders. Moreover, their witnesses are worth half of those of men and their inheritance share as daughter amounts half of those given to son. In terms of conjugal relation, they should ask their husbands for permission to travel, they should submit to the sexual needs of their husbands”[13]. These narrations vividly show the level of gender discrimination as the women do not have the sufficient rights to express their feelings about themselves as man are placed as the master[14]. The result of these of narrations, nurture the patriarch and women become the subordinates to men and sociopolitical and cultural implications created to stand down their status. Additionally, this kind of gender discrimination further seen in the Islamic laws due to the narrowed interpretation. These interpretations posits that women is property and the marriage contract is the agreement, which transfer the right off the women from one man to the another one. This agreement is more like an ownership document, rather than the ibdah. Furthermore, this interpretation limits the rights of the women in terms of freedom of expression, which results verbal and physical abuse and the distortion of the basic rights. [15] Therefore, numerous Muslim reforms cited that these reasons could be the milestone in gender inequity.
The Boom of Freedom- Women empowerment in Islam
The tech-Savvy world, raise women voices through electronic media to show the real face of empowerment in multiple ways. This approach also affects the status of women in Islamic society as the liberation movements allow the women to break the patriarchal chins[16]. On the other hand, the conventional Islamic societies still believes that the notion of empowerment is the conduit of perpetuating the false practices in order to inject the rebellious approach. The Notion of feminism in Islam is stand on the true teachings and ideologies, which are blurred due to the false practices of the society[17]. However, this notion is taken in the wrong sense and termed the gender equity stance as the counter argument toward God’s will.
The Current practices- Are we all thinking in the same way?
There are many countries, such as some certain countries of middle-east and South Asia are notably practice these traditional norms as the mandatory practice (–). For instance, Indo-Pak’s Muslim culture depicts the conventional approach as there is still the concept of women’s submission to the men, which lead toward marital rape or the thrashing of her consent. Moreover, the concept of dowry, limited rights toward divorce issues and decisions on the number of children. The false practices do not allow women to raise their voices, and they are still living in the hundred years old ideologies. On the contrary, there are many cases, where women stand for her rights as the surge of women’s rights allow women to think about the misogynistic approach. For instance, recently Pakistan banned Dowry, which is the historic decision in relation with the women empowerment. Moreover, India is a step ahead in this issues as the Indian criminal laws stated that “Section 304B was added to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”), which made dowry death a specific offence punishable with a minimum sentence of imprisonment for 7 years and a maximum imprisonment for life.[18]
Early Marriages Stance: Then and Now
The notion of early marriages hamper the true objective of the marriage as it is utterly against the true Islamic teachings and ideology, which are grounded in the equity and equality stance. However, Asian Muslim countries are still the biggest supporter of this notion due to the rigid cultural norms and the societal pressure to send the daughter to the husband’s house. However, United Nations (UN) and other welfare organizations are working to curb the intensity of this issue through education and empowerment. [19]
Conclusion
The essay unfolds numerous aspects of marriages in Islam through the critical perceptive. The essay begins with the basic explanation of marriage, which is followed by the Islamic interpretation of the scared relationship between man and woman. This section shows that Islam employ the optimistic approach toward the marriage and the women’s within marriage. However, the next phase unveil the bias approach of cultural and societal norms, which adversely impact on the women’s rights in Islamic marriages as the early narrations shows the intensity of women’s submissiveness in multiple ways.
The later section of the essay shows that modern approach of the women’s rights in Islam along with some pertinent examples. Lastly, the essay highlights the issue of early marriages, which is vividly present in the Muslim societies since ages.
[1] Abdullah, Mudofir. “Marriage In Islam and the Problem of Gender Equality: A Philosophical Perspective.” Ulumuna 22, no. 1 (2018): 57-76.
[2] Aksoy, Ozan, and Francesco C. Billari. “Political Islam, marriage, and fertility: evidence from a natural experiment.” American Journal of Sociology 123, no. 5 (2018): 1296-1340.
[3] Ahmad, Nadzrah, Norzulaili Mohd Ghazali, Roslina Othman, and Nurul Syuhada Ismail. “Women’s Rights in Marriage: Between Qur’ānic Provision and Malpractice.”
[4] Ibid
[5] Platt Maria. Marriage, gender and Islam in Indonesia: women are negotiating informal marriage, divorce and desire. Vol. 51. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
[6] Imam, Ibrahim. “Shariah and human rights perspectives on interfaith marriage: Challenges impeding its practice in Nigeria.” Islam and Civilisational Renewal ICR Journal 7, no. 4 (2016).
[7] Zarean, Mansoureh, and Khadijeh Barzegar. “Marriage in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.” Religious Inquiries 5, no. 9 (2016): 67-80.
[8] Khanif, Al. “WOMEN, ISLAM, AND MODERN FAMILY CONSTRUCTION IN THE PERSPECTIVES OF LEGAL PLURALISM IN INDONESIA.” Petita: Jurnal Kajian Ilmu Hukum Dan Syariah 4, no. 2 (2019): 125-134.
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid
[11] Munir, Munir, H. Moch Isnaeni, and Endang Prasetyawati. “Legal Construction of the Division of Marriage Assets Due to Divorce in Islamic Law Perspective.” International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding 7, no. 8 (2020): 437-442.
[12] Sewenet, Alex Minichele, Fasil Merawi Tessagaye, and Getnet Tadele. “Interreligious Marriage: Social and Religious Perspectives.” Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research 3, no. 6 (2017): 233-250.
[13] About the concept of al-maqāṣid al-aḥkām al-shar’iyyah see Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Gharnatī al-Shāṭibī, al-Muwāfaqāt fī Uṣūl al-Sharī’ah, vol. 2 (Beirut: Dār al-Ma’rifah, n.d.), 3, 16–17.
[14] Abd al-Raḥmān al-Jazīrī, Al-Fiqh alā al-Madhāhib al-Arba’ah, vol. 4 (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, n.d), 4, 9 23.
[15] Ibid
[16] Mustika, Dian, and Siti Marlina. “INTEGRATED MARRIAGE ITSBAT IN JAMBI CITY: MUSLIM FEMINISTS’READING OF THE QURAN: A JURISTIC ANALYSIS ON FAMILY LAW ISSUES ANALYZING THE PROBLEMS BEHIND ITS IMPLEMENTATION.” MAZAHIB; Jurnal Permikiran Hukum Islam 18, no. 1 (2019): 44-75.
[17] Ibid
“India Top Court Orders Changes in Anti-Dowry Law to Stop Misuse.” BBC News. BBC, July 28, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-40749636.
[19] Baig, Saima, and Asmat Ullah. “OUTCOME AND ROOTS OF EARLY MARRIAGES IN GILGIT-BALTISTAN: A QUANTITATIVE DESCRIPTIVE STUDY.” Journal of Mountain Area Research 3 (2018): 1-7.