Justice and Beauty in Muslim Marriage: Towards Egalitarian Ethics and Laws

Many contemporary Muslim family laws rest on patriarchal concepts. The time for change is now.

The model of marriage constructed in classical Islamic jurisprudence rests on patriarchal ethics that privilege men. This worldview persists in gender norms and family laws in many Muslim contexts, despite reforms introduced over the past few decades.

In this volume, a diverse group of scholars explore how egalitarian marital relations can be supported from within Islamic tradition. Brought together by the Musawah movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, they examine ethics and laws related to marriage and gender relations from the perspective of the Qur’an, Sunna, Muslim legal tradition, historical practices and contemporary law reform processes. Collectively they conceptualize how Muslim marriages can be grounded in equality, mutual well-being and the core Qur’anic principles of ’adl (justice) and ihsan (goodness and beauty).

Ziba Mir-Hosseini is Professorial Research Associate at the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Law, SOAS, University of London. Mulki Al-Sharmani is Associate Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Helsinki. Jana Rumminger is a legal researcher and writer who focuses on human rights, gender and Islamic law. Sarah Marsso is a feminist anti-racism activist and Musawah’s Knowledge Building Coordinator.