Marriage
٠ Age of marriage: A Muslim man or a woman must be of sound mind and must have attained puberty to be considered legally eligible for marriage. In classical Islamic law, puberty occurs with the physical signs of maturity such as the emission of semen for boys and menstruation for girls.50
٠ Guardianship: In contracting a marriage, male guardianship is necessary.
The established interpretations of Islamic jurisprudenceWornewawdShaTia law 45 schools insist that a woman cannot marry without the consent of her male guardian. A guardian handles all kinds of affairs for both his male and female wards, including contracting marriage. When the ward is a male, the guardianship ceases when the boy reaches puberty. For a girl, however, a guardian has the power to impose a marriage on a virgin girl without her knowledge or consent.51 If she contracts a marriage without her guardian’s consent, the marriage is not valid. If she was divorced, her consent, in addition to that of the guardian, is necessary to contract the marriage.
The one crucial exception to this rule in Sunni Islam occurs in the Hanafite school of jurisprudence; it is also present in Shi’a jurisprudence. Guardianship is required when the girl is not of age, that is, has not yet reached puberty. But once she reaches puberty, she is allowed to contract her marriage without her guardian’s consent.52 However, under Hanafite jurisprudence, if the guardian is not satisfied with her choice of husband, he has the right to demand that marriage be annulled on the basis of lack of kafaa: social equality. The concept of kafaa, literally suitability, gives the guardian the right to dissolve and annul a marriage, if he considers the groom/husband not to be fit or suitable.
٠ Polygamy: A Muslim man may be married to up to four wives at the same time but a Muslim woman can only be married to one man at a time.
A Muslim man may marry a Christian or a Jewish woman, but a Muslim woman may not marry a non-Muslim man.Divorce
٠ A Muslim man may divorce his wife, or any of his wives, by unilateral repudiation, talaq, without having to give any reasons or justify his action to any person or authority. When he divorces his wife by uttering the word three times, the divorce is considered irrevocable: bain. In order to return to him, she must first marry a different man and get a divorce from the new husband.
٠ A Muslim woman can obtain a divorce in three ways: (a) by gaining the consent of her husband; (b) by getting a judicial decree for limited specific grounds/harms; or (c) by khula. This means a divorce sanctioned by a judge, but she must give up her financial rights to gain it.
٠ A woman divorced by her husband must observe a waiting period (iddah), normally lasting three months. During this period she cannot marry another man.
٠ A divorce in which the word is uttered fewer than three times is revocable (raji,i). So even if a woman gets a divorce, her husband may change his mind. During the waiting period, he has the right to return her to his household against her will and he need not sign another marriage contract. One reference on fiqh explained this rule this way: ‘until the period of iddah has elapsed, the repudiation is revocable (raji'i), and the husband may resume conjugal relations with his wife, if he be so inclined, by a revocation of the repudiation. This he can do whether she be willing or not.’53
Obedience, Maintenance, and Beating
٠ Obedience is considered a duty of the wife. A wife should be obedient to her husband insofar as his commands are legally allowed and are ordained as duties of marriage. If a wife is disobedient, she loses her right to maintenance. According to Hanafi jurisprudence, a wife is considered disobedient if she leaves their home without the consent of her husband or without a lawful excuse.
Other schools of jurisprudence, however, say that even if she stays at home, she will not be entitled to maintenance if she refuses sexual intercourse.54 A husband may beat his wife if she is disobedient. The husband can resort to several measures when his wife disobeys him, the last of which is the most severe: beating her. If the woman obeys him, then he should stop using these measures.55Maintenance after Divorce
٠ Maintenance for a divorced wife ceases after the iddah period, the three-month waiting period after the divorce.
٠ After a divorce, the wife is only entitled to the sum of money set in the marriage contract: the muakhar.
Inheritance
٠ A Muslim woman receives less than the share of a Muslim man when both parties have an equal degree of relationship to the deceased person. Hence, a sister inherits from her father half of what her brother inherits. A Muslim husband inherits half of what his wife leaves, provided that she did not have a son. If she does, then the husband inherits a quarter. A Muslim wife inherits a quarter of her husband’s estate if he has no son. If he has a son, then she inherits an eighth.56
٠ Being of a different religion is a total bar to inheritance. Thus a Muslim may neither inherit from, nor leave an inheritance to, a non-Muslim.57
Custody of Children
٠ After a divorce, the custody of a child is entrusted to either the mother or father, depending on the child’s age and sex. Younger children tend to be placed in the mother’s care and the father takes over custody when the child reaches a given age. However, shari’a makes a distinction between custody and guardianship: the father is the guardian of the child after separation even if the mother is granted the right to custody up to a certain age, after which custody reverts to the father.58
٠ If the mother decides to remarry she automatically loses her right to custody.