Islam affirms God's Sovereignty over the entire gamut of man's life.It is opposed to asceticism,monasticism & creeds of life-denial & annihilation.
Family Life in Islam
By: Khurshid Ahmad
Preface - 2
I The Islamic Approach to Life: The Foundations
(1) Tawhid: The Oneness of God
(2) Man's Vicegerency
(3) A Complete Way of Life
(4) Faith As the Basis of Society
II The Family in Islam: Basic Principles
(1) Divinely-Inspired Institution
(2) The Social Contract
(3) Faith and the Family
(4) Marriage
(5) Equality of the Sexes
III The Family in Islam: Its Objectives and Functions
(1) Preservation and Continuation of the Human Race
(2) Protection of Morals
(3) Psycho-Emotional Stability, Love and Kindness
(4) Socialisation and Value-Orientation
(5) Social and Economic Security
(6) Widening the Family Horizons and Producing Social Cohesion in Society
(7) Motivation for Effort and Sacrifice
IV The Family in Islam: Structure, Principles and Rules
(1) Marriage and Divorce
(2) The Way Marriage is Contracted
(3) The Structure of a Muslim Family
(4) The Position of Man and Woman
(5) The Family and Society
Preface
Islam is a complete way. It has a distinct outlook on life. It
aims at producing a unique personality in the individual and a distinct culture
for the community based on Islamic ideas and values. The institutions of
marriage and the family occupy a very important position in this scheme of life.
An effort is made in this small book to explain the Islamic concept of marriage
and the family. The original inspiration for this essay came from a recent
conference. The Standing Conference on Christian-Muslim Dialogue organised a
three-day conference at Wood Hall, Wetherby, Yorks, on "The Family in
Christianity and Islam”. I was invited to present the Islamic viewpoint on the
subject. The talk produced immense interest and sparked off very useful
discussions in the following days. As the talk was given before a predominantly
Christian audience I had to begin with the Islamic approach to life and
gradually explain the institution of the family and the principles on which
family relations are built in a Muslim society. The present book is an
out-growth of that talk. I hope it will, in its present form, reach a much
wider audience and that it will be helpful in developing a better understanding
of the Islamic family.
My grateful thanks are due to Father Bernard Chamberlain who
persuaded me to write the talk and to Dr. Gaafar Sheikh ldris, Dr. M. M. Ahsan
and Mrs. P. R. Phillips who read an earlier manuscript and extended a number of
suggestions to improve it. I am grateful to Mrs. D. Buckmaster for reviewing
the manuscript for this second edition. The responsibility for mistakes or
lapses is, however, exclusively mine. Acknowledgements are also due to
Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Messrs. Allen and Unwin Limited for
permitting the reproduction of two quotations from Ideals and Realities of
Islam.
The Islamic Foundation, Leicester, 1st June, 1977
14, Jumada ai-Akhir, 1397, Khurshid Ahmad
1. Islamic Approach to
Life: The Foundations
We are living in a period of cultural crisis. It seems as if the
very foundations of contemporary society are being threatened from within and
without. The family, as a basic and most sensitive institution of culture, is
being undermined by powerful and destructive forces.
All the symptoms suggest that the crisis in general is deepening
and the institution of the family is, in particular, weakening, even
disintegrating in Europe and America. It is time to pause for a while and
re-examine the foundations on which family life is built in the contemporary
west and also to study alternative foundations and structures in other cultural
traditions. This will include the contemporary man to identify the nature of
the crisis that confronts him today and will also point to some of the
possibilities that are still open to him. I would like to discuss in the
following pages the concept of family life in Islam, its foundations, structure
and principles.
We shall be in a better position to understand the institution of
the family in Islam if we start by a brief statement about the Islamic approach
to life, religion and culture.
Tawhid: The Unity of God
Islam affirms the Unity of God and His indivisible sovereignty
over the Universe. God is the Creator, the Master, the Sustainer of all that
exists. Everything is operating according to His plan. He has revealed, through
His prophets, the Right Path for the guidance of mankind. All prophets (peace
be upon them) have preached the same message -that of acceptance of God's
sovereignty. They invited men and women to a life committed to virtue, purity,
justice and peace, and to act according to the guidance He has revealed. All
prophets, from Adam, Noah and Ibrahim (Abraham) to Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus)
and Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on them) taught the same religion
of acceptance of and submission to God and commitment to peace i.e. Islam.
Man's failure lies in not protecting and preserving the teachings of the
earlier prophets. As such, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was raised to
restate the-original message, to present it in its perfect form and to preserve
it in such a way that the word of God would no longer be confused with the word
of man.
Man's Vicegrency
If tawhid (Unity of God) constitutes the ideological foundation of
Islam, the concept of mans' Khilafah (vicegerency/caliphate) provides the
operational framework for the Islamic scheme of life.
The story of Adam and Eve is found in almost all religious and
major cultural traditions. But in these narration's, fact and fancy are found
intermingled. The way the Quran narrates this event is crucial to the understanding
of the Islamic world-view.
The main outline of the Qur'anic narration is as follows: God
declared His intention to send a vicegerent (Khalifah) to the earth. He created
Adam and Eve from the same substance. They were destined to play this role of vicegerency
and were endowed with the 'knowledge of the things' to do the job well. Then
they were put to a test end were asked not to approach a certain tree. They
fell victim to the evil persuasions of Satan and committed sin. But immediately
after sinning they repented their mistake, sought God's forgiveness and were
forgiven. It was after they were forgiven and redeemed that they were sent down
to the earth to play their role as vicegerents of God. They were promised
Divine Guidance and were assured that those who foIIowed that Guidance would be
successful. Adam was the first man to receive this guidance and convey it to
his progeny.
Some very important inferences follow from this:
(a) Islam does not contribute to any theory of the "fall of
Adam" symbolizing the fall of man. There was no "fall" at all in
that sense. Man was created for the purpose, of acting as vicegerent on the
earth and he came to the world to fulfil this mission. It represents the rise
of man to a new assignment, his tryst with destiny, and not a fall.
(b) The role and status of vicegerency is conferred upon the human
being as such, and it is shared by man and woman alike. This lays the
foundations of their essential equality as human beings, as vicegerents of God
on the earth, whatever their different roles in society.
(c) Islam does not subscribe to the view that woman led man (Eve
leading Adam) to sin and disobedience. According to the Qur'an "Satan
caused them both to deflect therefrom". Both were held responsible for the
act, both repented their transgression and both were forgiven. They entered the
world without any stigma of original sin on their soul.
(d) Human nature is pure and good. Man has been created in the
best of the forms.Man and woman are made from the same substance. Every one is
born in a state of purity and innocence. Success or failure depends entirely on
one's own beliefs and behaviour. No one is to be responsible for the
shortcomings of others.
(e) Man has been given freedom of choice. He is free to accept or
deny the Reality. He is responsible for his actions, but is not to be deprived
of this freedom, even if he makes mistakes and abuses it. The uniqueness of the
human situation lies in his psychosocial volition. This is the mainspring of
human potential -this is what enables him to rise to the highest pinnacle or to
fall into the deepest abyss.
(f) The dangers of misuse of freedom continue to confront man
throughout his career on the earth. The challenge from Satan is unceasing. To
safeguard man against this, Divine Guidance is to be provided. The trial of
Adam and Eve reveals, on the one hand, the essential goodness of their nature
and on the other, their susceptibility to error. This demonstrates man's need
for Divine Guidance.
(g) Man has not been
totally protected against error. This would involve negation of the freedom of
choice. He may commit errors; his redemption lies in his realization of that
error, in seeking repentance and in turning back to the right path. The theory
of vicegerency affirms that God's creation is deliberate amid not fortuitous.
Man has been created with a purpose. Everything else in the creation has been
harnessed to his service. His career on the earth begins with the consciousness
of a mission, not through gropings in darkness. The ideal was set before him
through Divine revelation. The criterion for success has been laid down in
clear terms. The signposts of the Right Path have been made manifest. Man's
life on earth is in the nature of a trial. It is time-bound. This Iife will be
followed by an eternal life wherein man shall reap rewards of his performance
in this life. And in this lifelong trial, men and women are equal participants
and will be judged as such. No one is a mere shadow of the other, but both are
active copartners. The Qur'an explicitly states that man and woman will get
whet they strive for and that the same standard is set for them both as the
ultimate criterion for their success. "And the believers, the men and the
women, are friends protecting each other; they seek and enjoin good and forbid
evil and offer the prayer and pay the Zakat (poor-due): and they obey God and
His Messenger. It is on these whom Allah will have mercy. Surely Allah is
All-Mighty, All- Wise. Allah has promised to the believers, men and women,
gardens underneath which rivers flow, forever therein to dwell, and goodly
dwelling-places in the gardens of Eden, and greater than anything else, God's
good pleasure (and acceptance from Him). That is the supreme triumph." And
whosoever does a righteous deed, be they male or female, and is a believer, we
shall assuredly give them a goodly life to live; and We shall certainly reward
them according to the best of what they did."
"Men who surrender to Allah and women who surrender to Allah, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and' women who obey, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard their modesty, and men who remember Allah much and women who remember -Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward." This is how the Quran describes the ideal and the model for men and women and the criterion for day of judgement. This defines what is expected of them as God's vicegerents. This lays the foundation of their equality as human role in the world.
A Complete Way of Life
Islam affirms God's Sovereignty over the entire gamut of man's
life. It is opposed to asceticism, monasticism and creeds of life-denial and
annihilation. It stands for life-affirmation and life-fulfillment. It refuses
to divide life into watertight compartments of the sacred and the secular, of
the holy and the profane. It invites man to enter wholly the fold of Islam and
regards the division of life into religious and secular as deviations from the
Right Path. It gives an integrated view of life and reality. The teaching of
Islam cover all fields of human activity, spiritual and material, individual
and social, educational and cultural, economic and political, national and
international. They cater for the aspirations of the soul as well as for the
demands of the law and social institutions. Islam's uniqueness lies in
spiritualizing the whole matrix of life. Every activity, whether related to
things like prayer and fasting, or to economic transactions, sexual
relationships, diplomatic dealings or scientific experimentation's, is
religious if it is undertaken with God consciousness and accords with the
values and principles revealed by Him; and it is irreligious if it is in
violation of them. Activities related to matters of economy, politics and law,
or of sex and social manners, are a part of man's religious behaviour and do
not fall outside its scope. Life is an organic whole and the same principles
should guide and govern it in all its ramifications. The Shar'iah is the
Islamic code which guides life in its entirety. The example of Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is the model which a Muslim tries to follow and in his
life-example one can seek guidance in all aspects of human life, from the highly
personal to the purely social -as a man, a son, a husband, a father, a
preacher, a teacher, a trader, a statesman, a commander, a peace-negotiator, a
judge or a head of the state. The Islamic outlook on life is revolutionary as
it gives a new dynamism to what has been traditionally regarded as religious.
What makes an activity religious is the attitude with which it is undertaken
and its conformity or otherwise with the values enunciated by God and His
Prophet. With this revolutionary outlook, the entire realm of life is won over
for God and Godliness. Nothing is left for Caesar.
Faith as the Basis of
Society
Islam makes faith and religion the basis of the entire human
society and the mainspring for the network of its relationships. Social groups
and communities have been founded on race, blood, tribe, geography etc., but in
Islam all these differences have been subordinated to a new form of
organization emanating from the faith. Commitment to Islam integrates man not
only with God but also with the community of believers. These two relationships
branch out from the single act of faith. The Islamic concept of nationhood is
not based on race, language, colour, territory or politico-economic affinity.
Islamic community is a fraternity of faith -anyone who believes in the Islamic
religion and ideology is an inalienable part of this nation -whatever his race,
colour, language or place of birth.
This is a new principle of human organization; it is rational and
ideological in nature and is capable of embracing the entire human race.
This concept of an ideological community is not a mere moral
precept; it has its social, political and legal dimensions. It produces a new
infrastructure for human relations. Faith is the decisive force in this system.
It gives birth to social institutions, from the family to the state. Islamic
culture grows from this faith in the same way as a tree grows from a seed. To
some extent it is affected by external forces, but ultimately it is the
potential of the seed which is fulfilled. This is a unique principle of
organization. The Islamic society and culture are ideological and universal in
their origin and orientation.
These submissions, I believe, help us in understanding the nature
of the Islamic system of life. The Islamic culture cannot be understood if some
of its parts are studied in isolation, or in the perspective of cultures based
on foundations diametrically different from its own. The Islamic institution of
the family should also be studied and examined in the perspective of the
Islamic outlook on life and the ethos of the Islamic culture.
2. The Family in Islam:
Basic Principles
We are now in a position to state briefly those principles which
determine the nature of the institution of the family in Islam and also define
Its place In the overall framework of Islamic society.
Divinely-inspired
Institution
The family is a Divinely inspired and ordained institution. It was
not evolved through human experimentation involving a process of trial and
error spread over time. It was in institution that came into existence with the
creation of man. The human race is a product of this institution and not the
other way round. The Qur'an in says:
"O Mankind, be conscious of your duty to your Lord, Who
created you from a single soul, created of like nature, his mate, and from the two
created and spread many men end women; and be mindful of your duty to Allah in
whose name you appeal to one another and to (the ties of) the womb. Verily
Allah watches over you."
At another place tire creation of man and woman and the marriage
relationship permeated with tranquility, love and mercy have been described as
'signs of God.' The institutions of marriage and the family have been commended
as the 'way of the Prophets'. And Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has
said: "Marriage is a part of my Sunnah, Whoever runs away from my path is
not from amongst us."
Social Contract
Although marriage is a divinely ordained institution, each
marriage as such is in the nature of a contract. The word Nikah used for
marriage in the Quran and the Sunnah, means 'aqd, that is contract. In the
Qur'an, marriage has been specifically referred to as Mithaqan ghaliza a strong
covenant. The pro- Islamic practice of inheriting women was forbidden. The
consent of both spouses is an explicit condition for a valid marriage in Islam.
This means that marriage is a social contract, a noble and sacred
contract, but a contract nonetheless. It leads to a number of relationships and
engenders a set of mutual rights and obligations. Each contract, however, is
not a sacrament; it is not irrevocable.
Divorce is permitted in cases where marriage has failed.
Remarriage is allowed, even encouraged. There is no stigma attached to
remarriage or to marrying a divorced woman or a widower.
Faith and the Family
Faith constitutes the bedrock for the institution of the family. A
Muslim is not permitted to marry a non-Muslim. Marriage should be among
partners who share common outlook on life and morality, and who participate in
this co-venture to fulfil their destiny as God's vicegerents. In fact, it has
been emphasised that a guiding principle in matrimony should be that of
"corrupt women for corrupt men, and corrupt men for corrupt women; good
women for good men, and good men for good women", and that "the
fornicator shall marry none but a woman who fornicates."
Faith continues to play a decisive role in the entire system of
family relationships. A father or a son is not to inherit or make a bequest to
a non-Muslim son or father. Similarly, if one of the spouses changes his or her
faith, the marriage contract is broken.
Thus marriage is not simply a form' of sex-relationship, it is a
basic religious and social institution.
Marriage
Islam enjoins marriage. It forbids all forms of sex- relationships
outside marriage (i.e. pre or extra-matrimonial relations). It prescribes that
this relationship must not exist simply in the pursuit of momentary and
ephemeral pleasure, 'just to have a good time', but should be had via marriage
and should proceed in a responsible, well-planned and stable manner. It has to
be institutionalised, in the form of marriage and a stable family life. This
relationship is not a temporary relationship; it is permanent and enduring one
and each partner is expected to make a serious and sustained effort to live
together and play their role in society.
The institution of the family plays a very important part in
Muslim society. It is a basic unit of that society and is organised in such a
way that it operates as society in miniature. About one third of the Ahkam
(legal injunctions of the Quran) relate to the family and its proper
regulation. The network of rights and obligations that provides, the basis of
family life aims at producing those attitudes and behaviour patterns that Islam
wants to foster in the individual and in society. A new balance has been
established in the roles and relationships that exist between men and women,
between young and old, between near-relatives and distant kith and kin, between
freedom and discipline, between individual discretion and social control.
The Muslim family is an extended family, different relations
occupying different positions. It is not a nuclear, atomistic family consisting
of the parents and children only; it normally has three or four generations
under its umbrella. A careful look at the Islamic law of inheritance shows that
all these relations are an integral part of the basic family structure and not
just peripheral to it.
Equality of the Sexes
Islam affirms the equality of man and woman as human beings. This
however, does not entail non-differentiation of their respective roles and
functions in society. Islam disapproves of the free mixing of the sexes and
regards this as conflicting with the role it assigns to the family in society.
The primary responsibility of woman is to concentrate on the home and the
family, and all that is required to operate and develop these institutions She,
too, has certain social responsibilities, rights and duties, but her primary
concern is the family. This is a functional distribution of roles and
activities and is regarded as essential for the proper functioning of different
institutions of society and for its moral and social health and well being. The
responsibility for earning a living rests with the husband while that of proper
education, training and upbringing of the children and the optimal functioning
of the home and wider family relationships rests with the wife.
3. The Family: Its
Objectives and Functions
What are the functions which Islam wants the institution of the
family to perform in the lives of the individual and the society? The family is
not just a factory for the procreation of the human species, although the
preservation and communication of the race is one of its objectives. It is the
basis of the entire socio-cultural structure and a self-sustaining mechanism to
ensure social, ideological and cultural stability over entire span of society
on the one hand and in the time past, present and future on the other. Let us
briefly outline the objectives and functions of family as enunciated in the
Quran and the Sunnah.
Preservation and
Continuation of the Human Race
The survival of the human race and culture, and continuity in the
functioning of man's Khilafah depend on the effective operation of the
mechanism for procreation and reproduction. Nature has provided for this in
that the psychological and physiological differences between the sexes are
complementary to each other. All the facts of procreation demand that the
process needs a stable structure to come into operation. Man, woman and child
all are in need of a permanent and lasting institution in order to fulfil this
role. The family is the institution which can take care of the entire process,
from the initial phases to its fruition. The Quran says:
"O Mankind, be conscious of your duty to your Lord, Who
created you from a single soul, created of like nature, his mate, and from the
two created and spread many men and women."
"Your women are a tillage for you; so come into your tillage
as you wish, and take care of what is for you, and be conscious of your duty to
God and know that you shall meet Him"
Protection of Morals
Sex-urge is a natural and creative urge. Although common to all
living beings, in the case of men and women there are some unique aspects. In
other animals, it is primarily for procreation and is regulated through
instinct and the processes of nature. The mating urge is not effective 'at all
times'; it is bound by its own seasons and cycles. With man, this is not so.
The urge is always there and lacks any built-in physiological control
mechanism. But control and regulation are essential for a healthy existence,
even at a biological level. They become more important at the social and
cultural levels. Neither total abstinence nor unceasing promiscuity can lead to
a stable and healthy existence. Islam forbids non-Marital sex in all its forms.
But it enjoins marriage to enable men and women to fulfil their natural urges,
to enjoy this aspect of life in such a way that pleasure and responsibility go
hand in hand. Sex through marriage and marriage alone provides the control
mechanism for the sex- urge. It also acts as a safety valve for sexual
morality. Through it, fulfillment and sublimation are achieved in a balanced
way and equilibrium is attained in inter-sex relations. The Quran calls
marriage a hisn, a 'castle', i.e. (it is a protection) against a life of
debauchery. It says:
"So marry them by permission of their folk, and give them
their portion of kindness as women in wedlock, so that they be honest, not
debauched, nor of loose conduct." At another place the same point is
stressed with reference to the man: "(It is lawful for you) to have the
virtuous women of the believers arid virtuous women of those who were given the
Scriptures before you, when you give them their marriage portions and live with
them in wedlock, with honour, not in debauchery, or free love."
Psycho-Emotional Stability,
Love and Kindness
Another objective of marriage is to attain psychological,
emotional and spiritual companionship. The relationship in the family, between
all its members, and most important of all, between the husband and wife, is
not merely a utilitarian relationship.
It is a spiritual relationship and sustains and generates love,
kindness, mercy, compassion, mutual confidence, self-sacrifice, solace and
succour. The best in the human nature expresses itself in the flowering of
these relationships. It is only in the context of the family that what is
spiritually potential in men and women becomes real and sets the pace for the
blossoming of goodness and virtue within the family and outside it. In marriage
companionship, each partner seeks ever-increasing fulfillment. With children in
the family, the values of fellow feeling, of love and compassion, of sacrifice
for others, of tolerance and kindness are translated into reality and implanted
in character. It is the family that provides the most congenial climate for the
development and fulfillment of human personality. That is why the Prophet
(peace be upon him) has said that home is the best place in the world. This
function of marriage and family is emphasised in the Quran in a number of ways.
It says:
"And (one) of His signs is that He created for you, of
yourselves, spouses that you may repose in them (and find rest and tranquility
in them) 'and He has set between you love and mercy."
At another place the relationship between the spouses has been
described as that between 'the body and the garment'. "They are like a
garment to you and you are (like) a garment to them "
This emphasises their sameness, their oneness, something much more
sublime than legal equality. The husband and the wife both are described as
each other's raiment, not one as the garment and the other the body. A garment
is something nearest to the human body; it is that part of the external world
which becomes a part of our being. Such is the closeness of the relationship
between the spouses. Dress is something that covers the body and protects it.
The spouses are protectors and guardians of each other. The dress beautifies
the wearer. One feels oneself incomplete without it. Husband and wife
complement each other; one completes and perfects and beautifies the other.
This relationship also protects the morals -without this shield one is exposed
to the dangers of illicit carnality. All these aspects have been captured in
the single but succinct phrase: you are like garment for each other.
Socialisation and
Value-Orientation
The function of childbearing remains incomplete without its more
crucial part of child rearing and upbringing -their education, orientation,
character-building and gradual initiation into religion and culture. It is
because of this aspect that family care becomes a full-time job. No other institution
or even a number of institutions can take care of this function. ".... and
be conscious of your duty to Allah in whose name you appeal to each other (for
your rights) and to (the ties of) the womb?"
To be conscious of duty to the ties of the womb is an
all-embracing demand includes obligations towards the wife, the children and
other relations. And take care of what is for you" in Surah aI- Baqarah
also refers to the same function. One is enjoined to take care of one's self and
the members of the family. "O you who believe", says the Quran,
"strive to protect yourselves and your wives and children from Fire."
This objective is set forth in the form of prayer in a number of places:
"Our Lord! Grant us the comfort of our eyes from our wives
and our offspring and give us all (the grace) to be in the forefront of the
righteous."
"My Lord! Make me a performer of the prayer and make my
offspring prayer performing. Our Lord, accept my petition, Our Lord, forgive me
and my parents."
The family's role as a basic organ of Socialisation is referred to
by the Prophet in a number of ahadith where he has said that every child is
born in the nature of Islam and it is his parents who transform him into a
Christian, Jew or Magian.
The Prophet has said: "Of all that a father can give to his
children, the best is their good education and training."
"And whosoever has cared for his three daughters or three
sisters and given them a good education and training, treating them with
kindness till God makes them stand on their own feet, by God's grace he has
earned for himself a place in the paradise." Although one's first
responsibility is to one's children and younger brothers and sisters, this
institution of family care covers a number of relations, near and distant,
according to the circumstances. Care of one's parents and of the weaker or
poorer members of the family has been enjoined again and again by the Quran and
the Sunnah.
Social and Economic
Security
The institution of the family is an important part of the Islamic system of socio-economic security. The rights do not relate merely to moral, cultural and ideological aspects; they include the economic and social rights of the family members. The Prophet has said: "When God endows you with prosperity, spend first on yourself and your family." Maintenance of the family is a legal duty of the husband, even if the wife is rich. Spending on the "relations of the womb" has been specifically enjoined. Poor relatives have a prior claim upon one's zakat and other social contributions. The law of inheritance also reveals the nature of economic obligations within the family structure. This responsibility extends to a number of relations. One's parents and grandparents and paternal and maternal relations have a claim upon one's wealth and resources. Someone once said to the Prophet "I have property and my father is in need of it," The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, "You and your property belong to your father. Your children are among the finest things you acquire. Eat of what your children acquire."
There are ahadith emphasising the rights of aunts, uncles arid
other relatives. Orphans in the family are to be absorbed and treated like
one's own children. Older members are to be looked after and treated with
honour, kindness and respect, and in the same way these responsibilities extend
to one's grandchildren and great grandchildren. Even the needy relatives of any
of the spouses have claims upon the well-to-do members. One of the functions of
marriage and the family is to extend the ties with relatives and to weld them
all into a system of socio-economic cohesion and mutual support. This is not
merely a system of economic security, although economic interdependence and
support are its important elements. Islam established a system of psychosocial
security.
The members of the family remain integrated within it; the aged do
not go to old people's homes. Orphans are not thrown into orphanages. The poor
and unemployed are not made to survive on public assistance. Instead, all of
these problems are, in the first instance, solved within the framework of the
family in a way that is more humane and is in keeping with the honour and needs
of everyone. It is not economic deprivation alone that is catered for;
emotional needs are also taken care of.
The social role of the family becomes very clear in the context of
the Quranic injunction about polygamy. Limited polygamy is permitted in Islam,
as Islam is a practical religion and is meant for the guidance of human beings
made of flesh and bones. There may be situations whereon forced monogamy may
lead to moral or social incongruities with disastrous consequences. Sexual urge
is not uniform in all human beings, nor is their capacity to control
themselves. For a number of reasons, a man may be exposed to a situation where
the choice before him could be between a second marriage or drift towards sin.
In such situations, polygamy is permitted.
Similarly there may be more pronounced familial or social
situations. To take only one social instance, there are periods, particularly
after wars, when the number of women in a society exceeds that of men. In such
a situation, either some women must remain perpetual spinsters and/or live in
sin or they may be absorbed in the family system through polygamy. Islam
prefers their absorption in the family. This points to the social function of
marriage as a corrective of certain social imbalances.
Similarly, there may be orphans in the family or society and the
family alone can provide them with the love, care and dignity they need. The
verse in the Quran which gives permission for polygamy was revealed after the
war of Uhad wherein about ten per cent of the Muslim army was killed, creating
a problem of widows and orphans in the society. Although the permission is general,
the historical context provides important clues to the function of the
institution. The Quran says:
"And if you fear that you will not deal fairly by the
orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four and if
you fear that you cannot do justice (to more than one) then (keep to) one
(only) or that which your right hand possesses. Thus it is more likely that you
will not do injustice."
Marriage has also been encouraged to extend protection for the
weak within the family. The Prophet commented on the behaviour of a bright
young man who married an older widow because he had younger sisters, as their
mother had died, and he wanted to marry a woman who could take care of them and
bring them up properly,
The family, in the Islamic scheme of life, provides for economic
security as it provides for moral, social and emotional security and also leads
to integration and cohesion among the relations. Thus, it establishes a very
wide and much more humane system of socioeconomic security.
Widening the Family
Horizons and Producing Social Cohesion in Society.
Marriage is also a means to widen the area of one's relations and
develop affinities between different groups of the various societies between
families, tribes and nationalities. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said:
"Matrimonial alliances (between two families or tribes) increase friendship more than anything else." Marriage acts as bridge between different families, tribes and communities and has been instrumental in the absorption of diverse people into a wider affinity. In practice, marriage has played this role in the early Islamic period as well as throughout Islamic history and in all parts of the world.
Motivation for Effort and
Sacrifice
It has also been indirectly suggested that marriage increases
one's sense of responsibility and induces one to make greater efforts towards
making a living and Islam improving one's economic lot. This aspect is referred
to by the Quran when it enjoins people to marry, it says:
"Marry those among you who are single and (marry) your
slaves, male and female, that are righteous; if they are poor, God will enrich
them out of His bounty; God is All-Embracing, All- Knowing."
These are some of the major functions, which are performed by the
family in Islamic society. It provides for the reproduction and procreation of
the human race. It acts as the protector of the morals of the individual and
society. It creates a congenial context for the spiritual and emotional
fulfillment of the spouses, as also of all other members of the family and
promotes love, compassion and tranquility in society. It initiates the new
generations into the culture, tradition and further evolution of their
civilisation. It is the sheet anchor of a system of socio-economic security. It
sharpens the motivation of man and strengthens incentives for effort and social
progress. It is the cradle of civilisation and a bridge that enables the new
generations to move into the society. It is the link that joins the past with the
present with the future in such a way that social transition and change take
place through a healthy and stable process. Thus it is, on the one hand, the
means adopted for regulating relations between the sexes and providing the
mechanism by which the relation of a child to the community is determined and
on the other, it is the basic unit of society integrating its members within
and enabling them to play their ideological and cultural role in the world
(both now and in the future). This is the all-embracing significance of the
institution of the family. If this institution is weakened or destroyed, the
future of the entire culture and civilisation will be threatened.
The key role in the proper development of the family is played by
the woman. In an Islamic society, she is freed from the rigours of running
about in search of a living and attending to the demands of employment and
work. Instead she more or less exclusively devotes herself to the family, not
merely to her own children, but to all the dependant relations in the family.
She is responsible for running it in the best possible manner. She looks after
its physical, emotional, educational, administrative and other needs. It is a
world itself and involves a network of activities, intellectual, physical and
organisational. She runs and rules this world with responsibility and
authority.
4. The Family in Islam:
Structure, Principles and Rules
We have discussed the salient features of the Islamic outlook on
life, the foundations of the family in Islam and its objectives and functions.
In this final section an effort shall be made to explain briefly the actual
working of the institution of the family in Islam, its structure, principles
and rules.
Marriage and Divorce
Marriage, as a social institution, is essentially a civil
contract. And as a civil contract it rests on the same footing as other
contracts. Its validity depends on the capacity of the contracting parties,
which according to Islamic law, consists in having majority (bulugh) and
discretion. Mutual consent and public declaration of the marriage contract are
its essentials. The law does not insist on any particular form in which this
contract is entered into or on any specific religious ceremony, although there
are different traditional forms prevalent amongst the Muslims in different
parts of the world and it is regarded advisable to conform to them. As far as
the Shariah is concerned, the validity of the marriage depends on proposition
on one side (ijab) and acceptance (QubuI) on the other. This offer and the
acceptance can take place directly between the parties, or through an agent
(Wakil). In a traditional Muslim marriage the bride's consent is procured
through her representative. Normally there are at least two witnesses to this
matrimonial contract, entered into at a family ceremony. There is also a dower
(mahr) which husband pays to the wife and which is for her sole and exclusive
use and benefit. This last (i.e. dower) is an important part of the scheme, but
it is not essential for the legality of the marriage that its amount must be
pre-fixed. As such its absence would not render the marriage invalid, although
husband is expected to pay it according to custom.
Being a civil contract, the parties retain their personal rights
as against each other as well as against others. The power to dissolve the
marriage-tie rests with both parties and specified forms have been laid down
for that.
Marriage in Islam is not a temporary union and is meant for the
entire span of life. Dissolution of marriage is, however, permitted if it fails
to serve its objectives and has irretrievably broken down.
Family arbitration is resorted to before final dissolution. This
has been laid down in the Quran and the Sunnah. If this fails, then steps are
taken for dissolution of the marriage. There are three forms of dissolution:
divorce by the husband (talaq), separation sought by the wife (KhuIa) and
dissolution of the marriage by a court of an arbiter. Detailed laws and by-laws
have been laid down by the Quran and the Sunnah in respect of these and have
been codified in the fiqh literature to regulate different aspects of marriage
and family life.
Muslim marriage is usually a contracted marriage. Although
marriage is primarily a relationship between the spouses, it, in fact, builds
relationships between two families, and even more. That is why other members of
the family, particularly the parents of the spouses, play a much more positive
role in it. Consent of the bride and the bridegroom is essential, in fact,
indispensable. Despite the fact that free mixing of the sexes is forbidden, it
is permitted for the intending partners in marriage to see each other before
the marriage, what however stands out prominently is that marriage in Muslim
society is not merely a private arrangement between the husband and the wife.
That is why the whole family contributes effectively towards its arrangement,
materialisation and fulfillment.
The Way Marriage is
Contracted
No specific ceremony is prescribed for marriage. In principle it
has been stressed that marriage should take place publicly. Other members of
society should know of this development, preferably in a way that has been
adopted by the society as its usage ('urf) Normally the Nikah (contract of
marriage) takes place in a social gathering where members of both the families
and other friends and relatives gather. Nikah can be performed by any person.
Usually in Muslim society there are persons known as Qadi who discharge this
responsibility. In the Nikah-sermon they recite from the Quran and the Sunnah
and invite the spouses to a life of God-consciousness, purity, mutual love and
loyalty and social responsibility. Then the marriage is contracted wherein ijab
(proposal) and QubuI (acceptance) are made before the witnesses. After the
Nikah the bride moves to the bridegroom's house and both begin this new chapter
of their life. After the consummation of the marriage, the bridegroom holds a
feast for the relatives and friends. The real purpose of these gatherings and
feasts is to make the event a social function and to let the society know of it
and participate in it. The Prophet has recommended the people to hold these
celebrations with simplicity and to share each others joy. He said:
"The best wedding is that upon which the least trouble and
expense is bestowed." And that: "The worst of feasts are those
marriage-feasts to which the rich are invited and the poor left out. And he who
refuses to accept an invitation to a marriage feast verily disobeys God and His
Prophet."
The Structure of a Muslim
Family
The structure of the family is three fold. The first and the
closest consists of the husband, the wife, their children, their parents who
live with them, and servants, if any. The next group, the central fold of the
family, consists of a number of close relatives, whether they live together or
not, who have special claims upon each other, who move freely inside the
family, with whom marriage is forbidden and between whom there is no hijab
(veil). These are the people who also have prior claim on the wealth and
resources of a person, in life as well as in death (as beneficiaries, known as
in matter of inheritance 'sharers', the first line of inheritors). The crucial
thing in this respect is that they are regarded as Mahram, those with whom
marriage is prohibited. This constitutes the real core of the family, sharing
each other's joys, sorrow, hopes and fears. This relationship emerges from
consanguinity, affinity and foster-nursing. Relations based on con sanguinity
include (a) father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and other direct
ascendants; (b) direct descendants that is, sons, daughters, grandsons,
grand-daughters etc; (c) relations of the second degree (such as brothers,
sisters and their descendants). (d) father's or mother's sisters (not their
daughter or other descendants).
Those based on affinity include (i) mother-in-law, father-in-law,
grandmother-in-law, grand-father-in-law; (ii) wife's daughters, husband's sons
or their grand or great grand daughters or sons respectively; (iii) son's wife,
son's son's wife, daughter's husband, and (iv) step-mothers (step-father). With
some exceptions the same relations are forbidden through fosternursing.
(al-ridaah).
This is the real extended family and the nucleus of relationships.
All those relations who are outside this fold constitute the outer periphery of
the family. They, too, have their own rights and obligations, as is borne out
by the fact that a number of them have been included in the second and third
lines of inheritors. The general structure of the family is presented in a
diagram on the next page.
The Position of Man and
Woman
In the internal organisation of the family, a man is in the
position of the head and the over-all supervisor. In fact it is the eldest
member of the extended family who occupies the position of the head. A man's
major responsibilities lie outside the family. He is to support the family
economically and materially, he has to look after the relations of the family
with the rest of the society, economy and policy and he has to take care of the
demands of internal discipline within the family. A woman's major
responsibilities lie within the family. Here too, the eldest woman is regarded
as the centre of the family organisation but within each circle and fold the
relative central position is enjoyed by that woman who constitutes its core. A
spectrum of mutual rights and responsibilities has been evolved in such a way
that balanced relationships are developed between all. The Quran says.
"Men are in charge of woman, because Allah has made the one
of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their wealth (for
supporting them and the family)".
"And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over
them according to what is equitable, and men have a degree (of advantage) over
them, Allah is Mighty, Wise."
This is in the interests of proper organisation and management
within the family. There is equality in rights. There is demarcation of
responsibilities.
Man has been made head of the family so that order and discipline
are maintained. Both are enjoined to discharge their respective functions with
justice and equity.
The question of equality or inequality of the sexes has often been
raised. This issue is, however, the product of a certain cultural and legal
context, and is realty not relevant to the Islamic context where the equality
of men and women as human beings has been divinely affirmed and legally
safeguarded. There is differentiation of roles and responsibilities and certain
arrangements have been made to meet the demands of organisations and
institutions not on the basis of superiority or inferiority of the sexes but in
the lights of the basic facts of life and the needs of the society. Every role
is important in its own right and each person is to be judged according to the
responsibilities assigned to him or her. Their roles are not competitive but
complementary.
The Family and Society
The Family is a part of the Islamic social order. The society that
Islam wants to establish is not a sensate, sex-ridden society. It establishes
an ideological society, with a high level of moral awareness, strong commitment
to the ideal of Khilafah and purposive orientation of all human behaviour. Its
discipline is not an imposed discipline, but one that flows out of every
individual's commitment to the values and ideals of Islam. In this society a
high degree of social responsibility prevails. The entire system operates in a
way that strengthens and fortifies the family and not otherwise.
The Family is protected by prohibiting sex outside marriage.
Fornication (Zina) as such has been forbidden and made a punishable offence.
All roads that lead to this evil are blocked and whatever paves the way towards
it is checked and eliminated. That is why promiscuity in any form is forbidden.
The Islamic system of Hijab is a wide-ranging system which protects the family
and closes those avenues that lead towards illicit sex or even indiscriminate
contact between the sexes in society. It prescribes essential rules and
regulations about dress, modes of behaviour, rules of contract between the
sexes and a number of other questions that are central or ancillary to it.
The finer qualities of life have been given every encouragement,
but they have, been torn from their carnal or sensate context and oriented
towards what is noble and good in human life. A number of preventive measures
have been taken to protect the family from influences that may corrupt or
weaken it a moral and social climate. Some of these measures are in the nature
of moral persuasions, others take the farm of social rules and sanctions; and
same take the form of law whose violation entails exemplary punishments. All
these protect the institution of the family and enable it to play its positive
role in the making of Islamic society.
Marriage and the family in Islam should be studied and understood in the context of the scheme of life Islam wants to establish. They cannot be understood in isolation. The concept of man and the family which Islam gives is in conflict with the concept of man and the family that is prevalent in the West today. We do not want to be apologetic at all. We refuse to accept the allegedly value-neutral approach that willy-nilly fashions the life and perspective of man in the secular culture of the West today. We think the disintegration of the family in the West is, in parts, a result of confusion about the place and the role of the family in society and about the purpose of life itself. If the objectives and values of life are not set right, further disintegration of this and other institutions cannot be prevented. The tragedy of our times is that changes are being imposed upon man under the stress of technological and other external developments and the entire process of change is becoming somewhat non-discretionary and involuntary. In an age in which freedom is worshipped like god, man is being deprived of the most important freedom -the freedom to choose his ideals, values, institutions and patterns of life. One of the greatest tasks that lie ahead is restoration and rehabilitation of this freedom of choice and its judicious and informed use to set the house of humanity in order. Non-human and amoral forces be they of history or technology must not be allowed to decide for man. Man should decide for himself as vicegerent of God on the earth. Otherwise, whatever be our achievements in the fields of science and technology, we shall drift towards a new form of slavery, and man's forced abdication of his real role in the world. This we all must resist at least all those people who believe in God and as the existence of a moral order in the Universe.
Notes
1 See: Daniel Bell, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (London:
Heinemann, 1974); Rovert L. Heilbroner, "The Human Prospect", The New
York Review of Books, January24, 1974; and Pitrim A. Sorokin, Social
Philosophies of an Age of Crisis, (London; Adam & Charles Black, 1950).
2 This is born out by the explosion of sex outside marriage, by
the exponential rise in divorce and desertion rates, in broken homes, in
abortions and illegitimate births and in juvenile delinquency, and by the
plight of the aged. See J. Dominian, 'The Marriage Relationship Today",
(London: The Mothers' Union, 1974); Vance Packard, The Sexual Wilderness, (New
York: David McKay Co., 1968); Majorie Rittwagen, Sins of Their Fathers,
(Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1958).
3 See: al-Quran, 3:2; 3:84; 42:13. See also Khurshid Ahmad, Islam:
Basic principles and characteristics, (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation,
1974).
4 If this fact had been kept in view, many a writer would have
spared himself the trouble of theorizing about 'religious plagiarism' and
borrowings' from this or that source, a favorite theme with some of the
orientialists.
5 The story has been narrated in the Quran in seven places. See
Al- Quran 2:122-123; 7:11-24;15: 26-42;17:61.65' 18: 50-53; 20:122-123; 38:
71-83. See also Muhammad lqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious thought in
Islam, (Lahore: Shaikh Muhammad Ashraf, 1971) pp.82.88 and Abdul A'la Mawdudi,
Tafhim al-Qur'an (Lahore, Maktaba Ta'mir-e-lnsaniyyat, 1973), Vol.1, pp.61-70
and Vol.11, pp.10-20
6 AI-Qur'an: 95: 4
7 ibid., 95: 5-6; 103: 2-3
8 ibid. 6: 165
9 ibid. 16: 71-72
10 ibid. 16: 98
11 ibid. 2: 208
12 ibid. 2: 208
13 This approach to life is very beautifully summed up in the
prayer which ha been taught in the Qur'an and is one of the most commonly used
prayers in Islam. "Our Lord Give us the good in this world end the good
in' the hereafter' (al-Our in 2: 201). The Prophet has said: "Scent and
women have been made dear to me, and the contentment of my eyes is in the
payer." The narrow concept of religion tried to drive a wedge between the
two categories represented by fragrance and woman on the one side and prayer and
communication with God on the other. The Prophet re-integrated them and
established the sovereignty of God over the whole realm. As such, 'prayer' end
'worldly progress' do not represent two different categories in Islam. They
hove been fused into one. Prayer is a stepping stone to social progress and
progress without prayer is a form of retrogression.
14 Al-Quran 4:1. It may be noted that in this verse, the
institution of the family-the first family of Adam and Eve -is projected as the
mainspring of the human race. It is also significant that one verb wettaqu (be
conscious of your duty to) has been used in the verse for reverence to Allah
and to al-Arham (the womb; the relations of kinship).
15 ibid. 30: 21
16 ibid. 13: 38. "We indeed send messengers before you (O
Muhammad) and We assigned them wives and children."
17 Ibn Majah, Sunan, Book of Nikäh.
18 See Raghib al lsphahani, Mufradat al-Quran.
19 Al-Quran, 4: 21
20 ibid. 4: 19. "O you who believe! You ore forbidden to
inherit (as chattels) the women against.their will."
21 See Bukhari, Book of Nikah: See also al-Quran 2: 232
22 See al-Quran 2: 221. The only exception is that a Muslim male
can marry a Jewish or Christian woman, on the grounds that the Muslim,
Christians and Jews believe in revealed books and as such share, to a certain
extent, a common outlook on life. This permission is only in cases where the
husband, the head of the family, is a Muslim. A Muslim woman is not permitted
to marry a Christian or Jewish husband except when he embraces Islam.
23 ibid. 24: 26. The Prophet has said: "A woman may be
married for four reasons: for her property, for her rank, for her beauty and
for her religion (and character). So marry the one who is best in religion and
character, and prosper. 'Vide Bukhari and Muslim. See Mishkat aI-Masahib, (Tr.
J. Robson, Lahore: S.M. Ashraf 1963) Vol. II, p.658. He has also said: 'The
whole World is provision and the best object of benefit of the world is the
pious wife."' Muslim Sahih, Hadith, No.3465, p.752.
24 Ibid. 24:3
25 These instances do not mean that the Shar'iah does not
prescribe rights and obligations even in such cases. A non-Muslim father has
certain rights as has a wife -who changes faith. But that is a different issue.
Here we are only trying to bring home the crucial role of faith in the
institution of family as such.
26 The position is not that marriage is only permitted or
tolerated as unavoidable. It has been positively enjoined. See the Quran 24: 3
and Hadith op. cit. lbn Majah, Book of Nikah. See also Bulugh al- Maram. See
Book of Nikah Hadiths nos. 993-95.
27 The sharers (Dhawi'l-Furud) the first line of inheritors
include father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brothers, sisters or half-
sisters widower or widows, sons, daughters and granddaughters in certain cases,
See Syed Amir Ali. Mohammedan law Lahore. All Pakistan Legal Decisions. 1965
Vol. II pp44-48
28 The question of equality or inequality of men and woman raised
in this context is simply irrelevant. Different roles of functions do not mean
difference in basic status as human beings. Rose and jasmine, daffodil and
tulip are different, but to say that they are unequal is simply confusing the
issue. Engineers, doctors, poets and artists play different roles in society,
but the question of their 'inequality' is not raised. Different roles do not
mean that some are superior and others inferior. Each area is important and
participant in them are to be judged according to their performance in their
area of work. And one is assigned to the area one can serve best. Man also has
to play a role in the family, but that is not his major role. Here he plays a
role secondary to the woman. In the same way, the woman has a role to play in
society and its economy. But this is secondary to her role in the family. The
Prophet has said: "All of you are guardians and responsible for your wards
and the things under your care. The Imam (the ruler) is the guardian of his
people and is responsible for them. A man is guardian of his family and is
responsible for them. A woman is guardian of her husband's house and is
responsible for it. AII of you are guardians and all of you are responsible for
your wards." Vide Bukhari.
29 "And stay in your home and do not show off in the manner
of the women of the days of ignorance. Be regular in prayer, and pay the.
poor-due and obey Allah and His messenger. Allah desires to remove uncleanness
far from you, folk of the household and cleanse you with a thorough
cleansing." al-Quran, 33: 33.
30 See al-Quran 4: 1
31 ibid. 2: 223, "take care of what is for you" refers
to the children expected from the relationship as also to their education,
upbringing, moral training and acculturation. The productive aspect is also
implicit in the metaphor of 'tillage. Earlier in the same Surah, it has be en
said, "So now go to bed with them and seek what God has prescribed for
you". (2:187).
32 Al-Quran 2: 25.
33 ibid. 5: 5. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said: "O
young man Those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains
eyes from casting (evil glances), and., preserves one from immorality.
"Sahih of Muslim, Ch. (The Book of Marriage) Hadith No.3213, p.703. See
also ahdith Nos.3232 to 3235.
34 Al-Quran 30: 21. The Quranic word Sakinah embraces all these
shades of meaning and much more.
35 ibid. 2:187
36 It is a misconception that nursery school lodging house and
work place have taken over these functions in modern society. None of the
original functions of the family have been totally or effectively taken care of
by any or all of these institutions. What has happened is that some roles have,
been partially taken over by these institutions with the result that some other
aspects remain totally neglected today, and what is more important, the integrated
personality that would develop through the family fails to emerge. Other
influences had always been there in some form, although their quantum was
different. But the family has been the institution where all other influences
would converge and lead to the evolution of a well-balanced personality. With
the loss of this function of the family (and not its replacement) the world is
a poorer place to live in.
37 al-Quran 4:1.
38 ibid. 2: 223
39 ibid. 44: 6
40 ibid. 25: 74
41 ibid. 14: 40.
42 Vide, Ibn Hanbal, Vol.2, pp. .315 and 346. See also Bukhari,
Book of Tafsir Surah al-Nur,' and Muslim, 'Book of Destiny'.
43 Vide Mishkat, op cit.
44 Mlshkat, Book XIII p 716
45 The family is the first tier of the Islamic system of social
security. Other tiers include a number of social institution and the state
system of social security is one of them.
46 There are people who object to polygamy, but accept polygamous
life as a form of human behaviour. Many eyebrows are raised at having a second
wife, 'but to have at many 'mistresses' or 'girlfriends' as one likes is
accepted in good grace. The contradiction between these two attitudes is
conveniently ignored. It may be instructive to quote Mrs. Annie Besant and Dr.
Havelock Ellis on this point. Mrs. Besant says: "There is pretended
monogamy in the West, but there is really polygamy without responsibility; the
mistress is cast off when the man is weary of her, and sinks gradually to the
'woman of the street, for the first lover has no responsibility for her future
and she is a hundred times worse off than the sheltered wife and mother in the
polygamous home. When we see thousands of miserable women who crowd the streets
of Western towns during the night, we must surely feel that it does not lie
within western mouth to reproach Islam for polygamy. It is better for woman,
happier for woman, more respectable for woman, to live in polygamy, united to
one man only with the legitimate child in her arms, and surrounded with
respect, than to be seduced, cast out in the Street -perhaps with an
illegitimate child outside the pale of the law -unsheltered and uncared for, to
become the victim of any passerby, night after night, rendered incapable of
motherhood despised by all." Annie Besant, The Life and Teachings of
Muhammad, Madras, 1932, p.3. Dr. Havelock Ellis writes: -"It must be said
that the natural prevalence of monogamy as the normal type of sexual relationship
by no means excludes variations, indeed it assumes them. The line of nature is
a curve that oscillates from side to side of the norm. Such oscillations occur
in harmony with changes in environmental conditions and no doubt with
peculiarities of personal disposition. So long as no arbitrary and merely
external attempt is made to force Nature the vital order is harmoniously
maintained. The most common variation, and that which must clearly possess a
biological foundation, is the tendency to polygamy, which is found at all
stages of culture, even in an unrecognised and more or less promiscuous shape.
In the highest civilisation...'The path of social wisdom seems to lie on the
one hand in making marriage relationship flexible enough to reduce to a minimum
of these variations -not because such deviations are intrinsically bad but
because they ought not to be forced into existence -and on the other hand in
according to these deviation when they occur such a measure of recognition, as
will deprive them of injurious influence and enable justice to be done to all
the parties concerned. We too often forget that our failure to recognise such
variations merely means that we accord in such cases an illegitimate permission
to perpetrate injustice. In those parts of the world in which polygamy is
recognised as a permissible variation a man is legally held to his natural
obligations towards all his sexual mates and towards the children he has, by
those mates. In no part of the world is polygamy so prevalent as in
Christendom; in no part of the world is it so easy for a man to escape the
obligations incurred by polygamy. We imagine that if we refuse to recognise the
fact of polygamy, we may refuse to recognise any obligations incurred by
polygamy. By enabling man to escape so easily, from the obligations of his
polygamous relationship we encourage him, if he is unscrupulous, to enter into
them; we place a premium on the immorality we loftily condemn. Our polygamy has
no legal existence. The ostrich, it was once imagined hides his head in the
sand and attempts to annihilate the facts by refusing to look at them; but
there is only one known animal which adopts this course of action and it is
called Man." Ellis, Havelock, The PsychoIogy of Sex, 1910, Vol. IV.
Pp.491-92, 493-94.
47 Al-Quran 4: 3. For a fuller discussion on polygamy see:
Khurshid Ahmad (ed.). Studies in the Family Law of Islam, (Karachi: Chiraghe-
Rah Publication, 1961), pp. 214-228.
48 Mishkat
49 AI-Quran 24: 32.
50 Syed Ameer Au paraphrases the viewpoint of leading Muslim
jurists from their works like Ashbah, Durr-ul-Mukhtar, Radd-aI- Mukhtar as
follows: "Marriage is an institution ordained for the protection of
society, and in order that human beings may guard them selves from foulness and
unchastity, no sacrament but marriage has maintained its sanctity since the
earliest time (lit, the days of Adam). It is an act of 'Ibadah or piety, for it
preserves mankind free from pollution; it is instituted by divine command among
members of the human species...'" Marriage when treated as a contract is a
permanent relationship based on mutual consent on the part of a man and a woman
between whom there is no bar to a lawful union; it does not give the man any
right over the person of the wife." Ameer Ali, Mohammadan Law, op cit,
p.241
51 Professor S. H. Nasr correctly sums this up when he says:
"In the home the woman rules as queen and a Muslim man is in sense the
quest of his wife at home. The home and the larger family structure in which
she lives are for the Muslim woman her world. To be cut of from it would be
life being cut off from the world or like dying. She finds the meaning of her
existence in this extended family structure which is constructed so as to give
her the maximum possibility of realising her basic needs and fulfilling
herself. The Shar'iah therefore envisages the role of men and women according
to their nature which is complementary. It gives the man the privilege of
social and political authority and movement for which he has to pay by bearing
heavy responsibilities, by protecting his family from all forces and pressures
of society economic and otherwise. Although a master in the world at large and
the priest of his own family, the man acts in his home as one who recognises
the rule of his wife in this domain and respects it. Through mutual
understanding and the realisation that God has places on each others shoulders,
the Muslim man and woman are able to fulfil their personal lives and create a
firm family unit which is the basic structure of Muslim society." S.N.
Nasr. Ideals and Realities of Islam, (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1966),
p.113
52 The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said: "Divorce is the
most detestable in the sight of Allah of all permitted things." Mishkat.
53 The Prophet said: "A widow shall not be married until she
be consulted, nor shall a virgin be married until her consent be asked"
and that: "A woman ripe in years shall her consent asked in marriage and
if she refuses she shall not be married by force." Mishkat. Marriage
without proper consent is invalid in Islamic law.
54 Prof. S.N. Nasr writes: "A woman does not have to find a
husband for herself. She does not have to display her charms and make the
thousand and one plans through which she hopes to attract a future mate. The
terrible anxiety of having to find a husband and of missing the opportunity if
one does not try hard enough at the right moment is spared the Muslim women.
Being able to remain more true to her own nature she can afford to sit at home
and await the suitable match. This usually leads to a marriage which being
based on the sense of religious duty and enduring family and social
correspondence between the two sides is more lasting and ends much more rarely
in divorce than the marriages which are based on the sentiments of the moment
that often do not develop into more permanent relationships." Ideals and
Realities of Islam, op Cit p.112-113 55 Vide. Mishkat.
56 It may not be out of place to mention that if there are servants
in the family, they have been regarded as a part of the family in the Muslim
tradition. It is enjoined that they should be fed, clothed and treated like
other members of the family and not as a different class. It is a common sight
in the Arab world that house servants, chauffeurs etc., eat with family members
at the same table.
57 We are using the word foster-nursing for the Islamic legal
concept al-rida'ah. This means that a woman has suckled a child, whether he
lives with her or not. Such a woman becomes the baby's foster-mother, her
husband becomes his foster-father and their children his foster brothers and
sisters. This relationship is very different from that produced by simple legal
adoption. The relations produced by this foster-nursing are almost at par with
those of direct blood relationship, i.e. consanguinity, except in matter of
inheritance.
58 In Muslim society there is no joint family system of the type
found in traditional Hindu society wherein the economic resources of the family
are joined together into one business unit and the head of the family exerts
real control over them. There is economic cooperation in a Muslim family but no
joint economic organisation and control except where arranged mutually.
59 Al-Quran, 4:34
60 Ibid 21: 228
61 A perusal of the Islamic law of inheritance is very instructive
in this respect. For instance, the share of a daughter is one half of the share
of a son and this means there is apparent inequality, but when this is
considered in the context of the economic roles and responsibilities of men and
women, its justification becomes manifest. The responsibility for earning and
spending on the family is that of man, while woman has the right to hold
property and investment in her own name and keep their returns to herself. Due
to this differentiation of roles and contributions, shares have been kept
different. But where men and women inherit as men and women and not as
relatives with specific economic and social responsibilities equal shares go to
the two. For example in the presence of the sons and daughters of the deceased
the share of the father or the mother of the deceased, whoever is alive and of
both of them if they are living is the same proportion of the deceased's
inheritance. In the cases where both the parents are alive both of them share
equally the part that goes to the parents. Mother's share is not one half of
the father's share. Both get equal shares. Similarly the shares of uterine
brothers and sisters are equal.
62 See Abdul A'la Mawdudi, Purdah and the Status of Women in
Is/am, Tr. by Al-Ashari, (Lahore: Islamic Publications Ltd., 1973) and Ali Musa
Muhajir, Islam In practical Life, (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1968), Ch. IX.
Appendix
Review from The Times, London
Islam strengthens family life
By CLIFFORD LONGLEY Religious Affairs Correspondent in The Times,
of London
The prophets of doom who predict the disintegration of family life
in the Western world
have yet to see their words fulfilled, even if the ever-increasing
rate of marital breakdown appears to bear them out so far.
The collapse of a generally agreed framework of fixed values for
family life and sexual morality undoubtedly strengthens these pessimists' case,
if only because the present generation of families has inherited a set of
expectations based on religious principles which are now widely questioned.
Though so-called Christian family life is under intolerable
strain, Islamic family life appears better designed to stand up to contemporary
pressures. It is based on a detailed and rigid set of rules about interpersonal
relationships. The Islamic family is therefore held together by more than the
social conventions and childhood conditioning that maintains Western family
life. Islam is numerically the second largest religion in Europe, and numbers
its adherents in the British Isles in hundreds of thousands. Nevertheless. the
Islamic way of family life is largely misunderstood in Britain, even by those
such as teachers who come info daily contact with it.
The values of the Islamic family code are strikingly close to
Christian values. Even such better known features of Islamic culture as the
attitudes to polygamy and divorce can be un- derstood as alternative ways of
reaching the same end: a secure interdependence and a caring community of love.
Long before the law of England adopted it, the Islamic law specified
irretreivable breakdown as ground for divorce. Before divorce is invoked, the
law demands an attempt at reconciliation; again, as now in English civil law.
Islamic scholars are also able to defend polygamy be pointing to the concealed
polygamy in Western society, which lacks protection for its inevitable victims.
In Family Life in Islam, a new publication from the Islamic
Foundation in Leicester, the institute's director, Khurshid Ahmad, attacks the
way family life in the West seems to be evolving.
"We refuse to accept the allegedly value-neutral approach
that willy-nilly fashions the life and perspectives of man in the secular
culture of the West today. We think the disintegration of the family in the
West is, in part, a result of confusion about the place and the role of the
family in society and about the purpose of life itself," Mr. Ahmad says.
"In an age in which freedom is worshipped like a god, man is being deprived of the most important freedom: the freedom to choose his ideals, values, institutions, and patterns of life. One of the greatest tasks that lie ahead is restoration and rehabilitation of this freedom of choice and its judicious and informed use to set the house of humanity in order."
One of the objectives of marriage is psychological, emotional and
spiritual companionship between husband and wife, Mr. Ahmad says. The
relationship between husband and wife "is a spiritual relationship and
sustains and generates love, kindness, mercy, compassion, mutual confidence,
self-sacrifice, solace, and succor.
'The best in human nature expresses itself in the flowering of
these relationships. It is only in the context eft the family that what is
spiritually potential in men and women becomes real and sets the pace for the
blossoming of goodness and virtue within the family and outside it. "In
marriage companionship, each partner seeks ever increasing fulfilment. With
children in the family, the values of fellow feeling, of love and compassion,
of sacrifice for others, of tolerance and kindness, are translated into reality
and imparted in character. It is the family that provides the most congenial
climate for the development and fulfilment of human personality."
The rules of Islamic family life, which lay down the principles to
be followed in such matters as inheritance, the rights of orphans, and the
mixing of the sexes, are calculated to foster the integrity of the family in
every way. Even the extended family network in Islamic culture is the product
more of law than of custom.
Mr. Ahmad's belief that the preservation of family life is essential
to the welfare and prosperity of nations is one that many Christians and Jews
would share, and many humanists. If so, the Islamic nations may be in a strong
position in the world today not just because of Arab oil wealth, but because
they possess a stable system of domestic relationships such as the West is
trying to do without.
The Times, Monday, December 23, 1974.
COMMENTS