A Study of Non-Financial Rights and Duties of Married Couples Based on Family Exigency with Special Reference to Imam Khomeini's Viewpoints

It is essential to protect family as the major component of the society. To that end, identifying the rights of the couples and observing these rights by either party will result in family reinforcement. One such right is the non-financial rights of the couples toward each other. The legal system of Islam has certain fundamentals and codes for the rights and relations governing the life of the spouses, so that some rights and duties are suitable for husbands while some others suit the wives. The basis of the enactment of these rights and duties rests on the inherent differences between the two genders. In view of Islamic jurisprudence and law, the non-financial rights and duties of the couples fall into three categories (joint, exclusive for wives, and exclusive for husbands), but since non-financial rights of the spouses are heavily dependent upon common law and ethics, they have been subject to recurrent changes in the course of time. The opinions expressed by the jurists and thinkers, too, have not been independent of the common law and public opinion in their time. This research work, developed on an analytical method, intends to study the three above-said categories concerning the non-financial rights and duties of the married couples, through reference to, contemplation on, and review of Imam Khomeini’s works.