فصلنامه مطالعات راهبردی زنان
پیاپی 27 (بهار 1384)

The best way for accessing the great Quranic knowledge is the study of divine verses both literally and content-wise. To discover the truth behind marriage in the Quran, the present paper has attempted to extract all verses related to marriage, literally or content-wise, and classified them under headings related to marriage. Under these headings, the viewpoints of some interpreters are expressed and the diverging points are discussed. The basic classifications are a semantic study of marriage, the importance and necessity of marriage, the natural origin of marriage, the advantages of marriage, proposals, the criteria for spouse selection, precepts concerning marriage, and marriage traditions in Jāhilia.

In the Islamic family law system, dowry [Mehriyyeh] is one of the financial rights of women’s in marriage. Providing a literal definition of dowry, the paper states that the payment of dowry or something similar is an old tradition in the different family law systems of ancient civilizations. The social functions of dowry, such as satisfying the natural need, social security, guaranteeing the future, and the symbolic value are also brought into consideration. In addition, the paper adds that although keeping the amount of dowry at a low level is advised by religious authorities, high dowry is increasingly demanded _ a situation which has dire consequences such as a change in the manner of spouse selection, leading to animosity, the probability of abuse, and similar aftermaths. Finally, the writer proposes suggestions for controlling the tendency toward demanding high dowry in Iran.

In the collection of rules devoted to family, the legislator, before the Islamic revolution, set up an institution called “Dāvari”_ judgment_ and codified regulations for it. After the Islamic revolution, however, “Dāvari” was replaced with “Hakamiyyat”_ arbitration_ and the related regulations were modified. Presently, in accordance with “the single-clause act of the divorce regulations amendment law” and “the executive by-law”, family courts judges send divorce petitions to “Dāvari” so that arbitrators can do their best to prevent divorce and reduce divorce rates. The increase in divorce rates in the recent years resulted in questions concerning the law and the way it is executed in family courts. Thus, the paper discusses over issues such as the concept and nature of arbitration, arbitration procedures, the subject matter and the limits of arbitration, the criteria for selecting arbitrators in the Holly Quran, the jurisprudential texts, and the related acts of parliament. The statistical study shows that the law is inefficient due to the shortcomings. Finally, suggestions are proposed at end of the paper to improve arbitration law.

The importance of sexual behavior, as one of the basic behaviors in human life, lies in the fact that human sexual identity forms between 2-3 years of age and continues to death to ensure survival and tranquility in the life. Since sexual behavior can be learned to a great extent, it needs to be taught. Thus, in order to find out about the desirable sexual behavior based on Islamic thoughts, the present paper elaborates on the necessity of sexual training and on determining its limits. In addition, after a semantic study of sexual behavior, sexual training prior to marriage is discussed in the paper and practical guidelines along with real examples are proposed in order to prevent sexual dysfunction and deviation, with maturity sexual training being emphasized. Finally, concerning marital sexual behavior, the paper refers to factors building a desirable sexual relationship, the manners of sexual intercourse, and impacts of desirable sexual behavior on marital relationships.

Polygamy, which means simultaneously marrying with more than one woman, is dependent on observing certain constraints and considering justice from the viewpoint of the holly legislator. After defining polygamy, the paper studies the phenomenon in various religions and nations, analyzing the causes from different perspectives. According to the writer, polygamy on the part of the man results in his first wife’s feeling disappointed, lonely, and distrustful to others and in familial and economical predicaments. Interestingly, statistics show polygamy is decreasing and according to polls the rate of the opponents of polygamy is more than that of the proponents. Finally, suggestions are proposed to decrease the rate of polygamy and its consequences.

According to article 630 of the Iranian civil law, “whenever a man catches his wife in bed with another man and is sure that she has surrendered to him, the man is allowed to kill both of them instantaneously”. The article is an imperfect adaptation based on “Tahrir al-Wasilah” written by the late Imam Khomeini. The adaptation is imperfect because it only transferred the part of the problem related to ethics to the article and remained silent concerning the legal part on the basis of which one must introduce witnesses to prove adultery. Instead of encouraging individuals to be forgiving and tolerant, the article encourages them to commit murder. However, one cannot find such faults in the words of jurisprudents because they put the basis on retaliation and the man must either introduce witnesses in order to exonerate himself from intentional murder count or the owner of the blood should remit his sin. However, in article 630 of the Iranian civil law, murdering is allowed in such circumstances. Thus, presenting jurisprudents’ views and analyzing the related narrations, the paper mentions the legal shortcomings of the article and finally proposes suggestions for amending it.

It is impossible to attain an overall knowledge of marriage and the philosophy behind it, unless one adopts a general multiperspectival approach based on comparison and contrast. To shed light on marriage, this paper studies the causes, goals, and status of marriage in Islam and Christianity from a comparative approach and analyzes the results. The most important result of this comparison is that both religions consider marriage and formation of family as the sole legitimate solution for securing sexual needs, forming a decent generation, and guaranteeing love and friendship. However, Islam denies bachelorhood and cloister and, unlike Christianity, does not consider them as the means for approaching Allah. In fact, it is marriage which provides the ground for perfection and for approaching Allah.

Love is an invisible appeal and a mysterious phenomenon which has the fundamental role in the ambulation, consistency, and perpetuity of the world. The significance of love in the world made the theologian philosophers to think deeply of love, its classifications and stages, devoting an important portion of their discussions to the issue. To provide a general explanation of love, the present paper first proposes a semantic study of love, elaborating on the types and stages of love and topics such as the true and the unreal love, free will and determinism in love, the duty of lovers during loneliness and consummation, the cause of love and the healing of lovers. Finally, the writer discusses over “love and marriage” from a general perspective and explores the role of love in preparing the ground for marriage and love as the result of marriage, referring to religious strategies for strengthening love after marriage.

Rapid social changes in the West resulted in fundamental changes in social institutions such as family. The paper elaborates on this issue as an introduction. Afterwards, presenting examples from the United States to show the disintegration of family, the paper puts forward religion and religious practices as a solution for compensating such harms. Finally, the influences of belief in God and of religious practices on family and on the physical, psychological, and behavioral health of family members is discussed.