A Critique on the Legitimacy of the Right of Lien in the Marriage Contract

There has long been a dispute between jurisprudents and scholars as to whether a wife is entitled to the right of lien in the marriage contract or maintaining it lacks Sharia basis or scientific acceptability. The reason for the discord among the scholars is the resemblance of some of the rules of marriage to those of exchange. Thus, a great number of jurisprudents have considered the marriage contract an exchange or as an exchange and have compared dowry and woman’s body with objects of exchange in a sale contract. Finding a solution to this deep-rooted discord may be the key to resolving part of the couples’ current dissensions. The result of the research indicates that the right of lien in the marriage contract, unlike the right of lien in transactions, has no acceptable Sharia backing and is repugnant to consolidating the foundations of family and the stability of family relations. The consensus of jurisprudents in different eras, due to the existence of narrative documentations, has been a document-based consensus and is not established. The present research has been conducted implementing a descriptive-analytical method with reference to library resources.