Rights and Obligations of Spouses in Islamic Marriage - Research Paper Example

MARRIAGE & ISLAM Gender in Islam is a fascinating subject to study, especially in light of the recent attention paid to one of the largest monotheistic religions in the world. Islam is the world’s second largest religion – in terms of the number of global adherents – and is practiced in all four corners of the globe. Accordingly, the Islamic faith is seen by adherents as an all-encompassing doctrine with important prescriptions in all aspects of daily life. Thus, Muslims turn to the Islamic faith for guidance on a variety of social issues including marriage, politics and jurisprudence. Seeking to understand and evaluate the main rights and obligations of spouses in Islamic marriage, the following aims to provide a thorough, yet critical overview of an important issue. With an emphasis on the important obligations facing both men and women as they pertain to marriage, this critical essay will utilize the research of Amina Wadud-Muhsin, in her groundbreaking piece Qur’an and Women, to understand the ways in which gender is framed through an Islamic lens. Following this, an overview of the issues studied will conclude with a critical overview of the important rights and obligations of spouses within Islam. The following section turns more thoroughly to the main rights and obligations with the institution of marriage within Islam (Chaudhry, 2001). Rights and Responsibilities within Islam Developed through the teachings of the late Prophet Mohammad and framed within the social context in which the doctrine developed, Islam has proscribed roles for both men and women within the Islamic faith. Islam invites all the Muslims to follow Islamic teachings in all spheres of their life for the deliverance of humanity. The Qu’ran is the sacred text of all Muslims which is revealed to Prophet Muhammad. Islamic teachings are best understood through both the Qu’ran and Hadith. Allah says in the Qu’ran, "And He does not speak out of caprice. It is not but a revelation revealed, taught him by one terrible in power. (Chapter-53: verses-3 to 5). Islam proclaims to do every thing fi-sabilillah (for the sake of God). Islam also orders the Muslims to visit and take care of sick persons. Furthermore, the relationship between husband and wife is seen as one of the most important social bonds which exists in society (Esposito, 2008). An Islamic marriage begins with the nikah, which is the matrimonial contract between husband and wife. The marriage can only be said to be Islamically sound if the prerequisites of nikah are fulfilled and entered into without duress. Thus, the free consent by both parties is seen as an essential component of the marriage contract within the faith. Importantly however, this consent is predicated on the assumption that both families agree to the union. The fathers of both the bride and groom, also known as the Wali, play an important role in this pre-marriage stage and underage girls may be given as brides through the consent of their closest male relative. This is an important instance in which the rights of men and women within Islam differ. Thus, the patriarchal nature of gender relations within the faith is emphatically made clear prior to the union. A father can dictate who his daughter will marry and while the same is true on the groom’s side, the nikah can and often does take place at the behest of the male members of both families. This reinforces the subservient role of women within the faith as well as within the marriage unit. Accordingly, the power imbalance of women and men within an Islamic marriage is an important feature of the relationship between husband and wife (Omar, 2006; Sonbol, 1996). Importantly, the relationship between husband and wife is one in which power is not equally shared. As with much of the rest of the world in which sexual equality is not present, marriage within the Islamic faith is empathically a patriarchal institution. Thus, while women have many rights and responsibilities within the institution of marriage, and these will be elaborated upon further, marriage within the faith is predicated upon the notion that the husband is the head of the household. Accordingly, women in an Islamic marriage have an inferior position relative to their husbands and this power imbalance has implications in a variety of realms. Thus, the subservient relationship of women to their spouses within the Islamic faith is an important aspect of the union between man and woman. As primary breadwinners, in a traditional as well as modern sense, the husband in an Islamic marriage is the head of the household and remains the most powerful figure within an Islamic marriage. The separation of spheres is not a uniquely Western phenomenon and the responsibility for a man to provide for his wife and family is an important responsibility, which dictates this power imbalance within the institution of marriage. Thus, the husband has the unique responsibility of providing for the family in the public sphere, earning money and ensuring that the family is housed and provided for, while the wife is relegated to the private sphere in which her duties pertain to the private sphere. The private sphere refers to the home and the wife in an Islamic marriage has a duty to raise and feed the children as well as provide for her husband as a dutiful wife. These main obligations within the faith will be elaborated upon more thoroughly below (Cesari, 2007). As should be surmised by now, the major obligations of men and women differ significantly within the Islam marriage. The social division of spheres (public for the husband and private for the wife) has numerous implications for the two genders within the institution of marriage. The most important obligations of women relate to the home and the raising of children. Thus, a woman’s primary responsibilities are that of wife and mother. A wife has a responsibility to bear children and to raise them according to Islamic teachings. The responsibility for the upbringing of the children is related to women’s procreative capabilities and their roles throughout much of the world as the primary caregiver for offspring. Accordingly, raising children properly and according to Islamic teachings is a responsibility for both husband and wife although the primary responsibility rests with the mother. Women also have important sexual obligations which must be met in order to satisfy their roles as wives and caregivers. Importantly, the primary purpose for sex within an Islamic marriage is procreation and both men and women have obligations to consummate their union. According to both the Qu’ran and the Hadith, a woman has an obligation to provide for the sexual needs of her spouse. A woman cannot forsake her husband sexually, if she does she is not fulfilling her wifely duties. Accordingly, a man must also treat his wife respect and diligence. A famous Hadith clearly states, “When a man sends for his wife for the satisfaction of his need, she should go to him even if she may be occupied in baking bread.” (quoted in Esposito, 2008, 287). Furthermore, a woman’s subserviance to her husband is an important feature of the relationship between husband and wife (Chaudhry, 2001). As verse 4:34 of the Qur’an makes emphatically clear, the power imbalance between husband and wife is a feature of the relationship. Women thus have an all-important obligation to obey their husbands, The men are made responsible for the women, and God has endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners. The righteous women will cheerfully accept this arrangement, since it is God's commandment, and honor their husbands during their absence. If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then (you may use negative incentives like) deserting them in bed, then you may (as a last alternative) beat them. If they obey you, you are not permitted to transgress against them (Qur’an, 4:34) While the passage above may appear disheatening, it represents an important overview of the ways in which the relationship between husband and wife is understood in Islam. The following now turns to an overview of the obligations of husbands within the faith. While husbands remain the head of Islamic households, they also have important obligations persuant to the Qu’ran and Hadith. A husband must provide for his wife and family as the primary breadwinner and must provide acccomodation for the family. While it has historically been the case that husbands and wives intially move into the husband’s family home after marriage, a husband is obliged to provide separate accomodation for his wife if she requests it. Thus, while the maintaining of the home as well as raising of the children remain obligations bestowed upon the wife, the husband has a duty to provide proper accomodation for the family. A father is obligated to ensure that his family is raised according to Islamic teachings and must ensure that both the children and the wife follow the tenants of the faith. The father is the disciplinarian within the household and is obligated to maintain order within the family. He is also obligated to be fair and just with his wife and children and must treat them properly. With respect to sexual relations, both husband and wife have a right to enjoy sexuality and a husband must have sex with his wife. He is also cautiioned in the Qu’ran to abstain from sex while his wife is menstrating and that no intercourse should occur during this time frame. Satisfying the sexual desires of a wife is a further duty encumbant upon a husband and they just and fair with their wives (Chaudhry, 2001). Accordingly, O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to inherit what the women leave behind, against their will. You shall not force them to give up anything you had given them, unless they commit a proven adultery. You shall treat them nicely. If you dislike them, you may dislike something wherein God has placed a lot of good (Qu’ran, 4:19). The preceding quote from the holy Qu’ran has been utilized to explain the husband’s obligation to be fair and just with his wife. This is an important duty which deserves being highlighted. Divroce is an important instance in which the rights and responsibilities of men and women differ significantly. While discouraged, women’s rights to divorce are much more proscribed than that of men. The rights to talaq, divorse, are heavily weighted towards the husband, who may divorce his wife with cause. As this paper aims to provide a critical analysis of gender within the Islamic faith, the following now turns to a critical overview of women in Islam through an exploration of Amina Wadud-Muhsin’s Qur’an and Women (El-Alami, 1992). Women in Islam The role of women in Islam is a fascinating topic which has received increased interest in recent years. Seeking to understand the unique roles women play within the Islamic experience, the following will explore women and Islam through a thorough analysis of Amina Wadud-Muhsin’s Qur’an and Women. In her eloquent and insightful introduction, Amina Wadud-Muhsin provides an excellent overview of the main challenges facing Muslim today and emphatically argues for a renewed interest in the concept of gender equality within the Qur’an. Accordingly, she argues that the time is ripe for an introspective look at Islam by all Muslims due to the current global Islamic resurgence. Understanding that Islam is a full way of life and it is an all-encompassing duty for Muslims to behave in an Islamic way, Wadud-Muhsin argues that 1,400 years ago, when the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad, Islam represented wide-spread social change and an egalitarianism not found previously within the pre-Islamic Arab world. Stressing that Islam promotes equality, among men but as well among men and women, this author asserts that true traditional Islam has been corrupted by forces which seek to oppress women and deny them their natural rights and human dignity (Wadud-Muhsin, 2007). Persuasively arguing that it is patriarchal culture, and not Islam, which explains much of the sexism and gender inequality prevalent in the Muslim world today, Amina Wadud-Muhsin argues that Islam truly is a progressive religion which promotes the equality of the sexes. Culture factors which promote the inferiority of women have been misconstrued as Islamic doctrine when in fact those beliefs had nothing to do with Islam. This article speaks to the Muslim world and is addressed to both women, including Sisters in Islam, and men. Importantly, while her audience appears to be both men and women, Muslim men, particularly those from the more traditional or conservative parts of the Islamic world are sure to benefit from her insights into the Qur’an and the original meaning and interpretation of the Islamic scriptures (Wadud-Muhsin, 2007). Understanding that Islam was a progressive and liberating force more than 1,400 years ago, the introduction to Qur’an and Women uses scripture to argue that before Allah, men and women are created equal and should be viewed as such. There is no superiority of the sexes according to Allah and the cultural fable that woman was created from man’s rib is shown by the author to be a fallacy. Accordingly, this erroneous cultural idea has been misperceived as being proper Islamic doctrine. Using Qur’anic verse, Wadud-Muhsin shows that Allah designed the world in pairs and men and women complement each other. Although biological differences exist between the genders, she points out that from a spiritual perspective men and women are equal. With respect to modern Qur’anic interpretation, this author emphatically asserts that passages have been taken out of context and misrepresented by Islamic scholars and jurists. Accordingly, polygamy and other pre-Islamic practices are not necessarily condoned nor encouraged by Allah. It is also important, this author argues, to understand the social and historical context under which the Qur’anic revelations occurred and keep in mind the history of pre-Islamic society almost a century and a half ago. The interdependence of men and women is a feature of the Qur’an often emphasized and persuasively argued with reference to Qur’anic scriptures which point to the equality of men and women in Islam (Wadud-Muhsin, 2007). In her concise introduction to women and the Qur’an, Amina Wadud-Muhsin has provided an accessible introduction to the problems facing Muslim women today as well as an overview of the reasons for the present inequality in much of the Muslim world. Her arguments are sound and argued with strength and compassion. While her audience includes both Muslim men and women, her article will definitely appeal to Muslim men because it contradicts many of the stereotypes about gender within the Muslim community. She began with a brief introduction of the problem and established a clear train of thought which she first presented then elaborated upon her main points and ideas. By utilizing Qur’anic verses, Amina Wadud-Muhsin has substantiated her claims with direct reference and compelling authority. This is an excellent read and a timely issue today as Islam many challenges and future prospects for change. The main rights and responsibilities of both men and women in Islam are topical and worthy of critical insight. Islamic scholar Amina Wadud-Muhsin provides much insight into the ways in which gender relations have evolved as part of the Islamic religious doctrine (Wadud-Muhsin, 2007). Concluding Remarks Islam is a complete way of life which addresses all the aspects of human existence. It encompasses all matters starting from the individual and the family to social, economic, political and spiritual issues. The preceding has aimed to provide a thorough yet concise overview of the rights and responsibilities of men and women within the Islamic faith. Gender in Islam is a fascinating subject to study and the important duties of men and women within the Islamic marriage are worthy of scholarly scrutiny. Importantly, marriage within the Islamic faith is proscribed by social norms which are predicated upon the notion that women must remain subservient to men within the institution of marriage. Women thus remain subservient to their husbands within an Islamic marriage and this is an important, yet critical component of the faith. As an all-encompassing doctrine with important prescriptions in all aspects of daily life, the Islamic faith dictates the important roles and responsibilities of men and women within the institution of marriage. The separation of spheres remains an important impediment to full equality of the genders within Islam and women continue to be relegated to the home within an Islamic marriage. Thus, the duties and obligations of women within the faith are often tied to their subservient status as wives and mothers, as opposed to working breadwinners. Women have duties to keep the home and raise the children as well as provide for the needs of their husbands. As the overview of nikah demonstrates, the subservience of women begins prior to the marriage union and continues throughout. While women have certain rights within the marriage unit, their power and authority are circumscribed by their inferior position within an Islamic marriage. Men have responsibilities which wholly differ from that women. Male responsibilities are predicated upon the belief that men will be primary breadwinners and provide for the family. Importantly however, men have sexual duties to their wives which are frequently ignored by critical scholars of gender and Islam. Men must provide for the family and be just with their children as well as their wives. Despite this, a power imbalance is the most pronounced feature of the husband-wife dyad. In conclusion, the subservient role of women within an Islamic marriage remains the greatest impediment to full equality within Islamic marriage. REFERENCES Cesari, J. (2007). Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States. California: Greenwood. Chaudhry, M. S. (2001). A Code of the Teachings of Al-Quran. New Delhi: Adam Publishers. Esposito, J. L. (2008). The Oxford History of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. El-Alami, D. (1992), Islamic Marriage and Divorce Laws of the Arab World, Kluwer Law International, London Omar, I. (2006). Islam & Other Religions: Pathways to Dialogue. New York: Routledge. Sonbol, A. (1996) Women, the Family, and Divorce Laws in Islamic History. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, Wadud-Muhsin, A. (2007). Qu'ran and Woman. New York: Oxford University Press. Qur’an. (1996). London: TTQ. Read More