Marriage Contract conditions can safeguard women’s rights within and outside the home… Marriage contracts can become an easy tool to equalise power between partners.
No, Mahr Does Not Make Women the Object of a Transactional Marital Relationship
In Muslim circles, it has been appalling to hear people assert that the concept of Mahr – which is a compulsory marital gift that a groom must give to a bride – makes women the object of a transactional marital relationship. In other words, the husband purchases the bride in exchange for sexual and domestic services as well as unconditional obedience to him. If this is not a deliberate distortion of the true spirit behind the Mahr to pander to misogynistic cultures, then I do not know what it is.
The Myths and Realities of the Muslim Marriage Contract
Almost two years ago, I wrote a long twitter thread explaining what a Muslim marriage contract entails and why I think every young person looking to get married should get one. The reactions from many young Muslim men were quite appalling. Many of them interpreted this gesture as an attack on the male gender, some said it was a sign that couples don’t trust each other and many others said it was a means to sneak liberal ideologies into Islam.
Redeeming Our Rights: Why the Muslim Marriage Contract Must be Better Utilised
Unfortunately, there’s still an uproar from many Muslims today when women choose to exercise this right from Allah and suggest conditions that are completely halal and acceptable. Men are able to divorce women on a whim, when angered, out of boredom, or because their wife is infertile, but women are dragged through hell and back just so they don’t die at the hands of their abuser. If a man can leave his wife because he so desperately wants children, why is a woman seen as heartless for the same thing?