Tag: marriage

The Institution of Marriage in Islam

The pillars of a legitimate marriage in Islam between two adult males and females are two: clear consent of the two parties themselves for marriage and binding an agreement so that they become husband and wife. ‘Non-verbal conventional marriage’ is a legitimate marriage because both pillars of marriage were observed in it. A written marriage contract and especially its submission in a legal center for marriage is closer to caution for a time of frequent disagreement. The Western style of partnership ‘cohabitation’ is not necessarily equivalent to non-verbal conventional marriage.

Rethinking Muslim Marriage Rulings through Structural Ijtihad

Within ‘Structural Ijtihad’, all juristic arguments on marriage and the validity of all derived rulings should be tested against four criteria: reasonability, justice, ethics, and effectiveness, all according to contemporary standards of justice and social realities. The author applies structural ijtihad to four contested areas of marriage (child marriage, rights and duties in marriage, divorce, and polygamy) to demonstrate the implementation of these criteria. In contrast to traditional fiqh, applying the structural ijtihad approach can preserve principles and standards within the tradition while adequately addressing today’s needs, contexts, and standards.