Fiqhi Attitude towards the Institution of Marriage: A Moral and Qurʾānic Critical Revision

An inductive examination of fiqhi verdicts on the institution of marriage reveals the substantial influence of conventional (and partially religious) norms governing the institution of slavery and commercial practice. The extent of this influence is such that the sole justification for some of these verdicts is analogical reasoning comparing marriage to trading a female slave. This article tries to: (1) demonstrate this influence using a comprehensive survey of fiqhi Verdicts on different aspects of marriage; (2) show that this approach is not morally justifiable; (3) illustrate that there is a huge gap between this and the Qurʾānic outlook on marriage; and (4) present a new interpretation of the relevant body of traditions (Sunnah) Concerning marriage showing that the popular fiqhi understanding is incorrect and that the Qurʾān and valid traditions do not endorse a mercantile, domineering and patriarchal attitude towards women. In our concluding remarks, we briefly elaborate on different types of discourse found in the Qurʾān and Sunnah claiming that substantive discourses, such as moral and spiritual discourses, must be distinguished from accidental discourses, such as economic and master-slave discourses, and that we must interpret the latter in light of the former and not the other way around.