"Sex is, by and large, a male right and female duty [according to fiqh texts]..." (p. 13)
This article ties in perfectly to the documentary that we watched in class-- "Divorce: Iranian Style". I thought that it was quite interesting to firstly, see it played out on film, and then to read this piece on the legality of [Muslim] marriage as well. Additionally, it was enlightening to read on the accoutrements of marriages in the Muslim community themselves.
While admittedly from a quite Western feminist point of view, I found myself quite unhappy with the divine legality that is sexual ethics in marriage. More so specifically, the 'penalties' that a wife could face upon not pleasing her husband sexually. [This, of course, taken at face value, brought the 'White Savior' complex right out of me.] It seems vastly unfair to confine a woman in an impotent marriage/consummation thereof to said marriage. It seems as if the [Muslim] male has multiple avenues to be able to file for divorce (multiple interpretations as well), but the woman has little law that can oblige to her aid. This seems massively unfair, and I think that it is a ripe controversy in the marriage system as a whole.
All in all, this article served to inform the reader on the issue of massive power/relational disparities that exist in the Muslim institution of marriage. For myself, it gave insight on the actualities of said constrictions to the woman, instead of merely stating that Muslim marriages are oppressive.
While admittedly from a quite Western feminist point of view, I found myself quite unhappy with the divine legality that is sexual ethics in marriage. More so specifically, the 'penalties' that a wife could face upon not pleasing her husband sexually. [This, of course, taken at face value, brought the 'White Savior' complex right out of me.] It seems vastly unfair to confine a woman in an impotent marriage/consummation thereof to said marriage. It seems as if the [Muslim] male has multiple avenues to be able to file for divorce (multiple interpretations as well), but the woman has little law that can oblige to her aid. This seems massively unfair, and I think that it is a ripe controversy in the marriage system as a whole.
All in all, this article served to inform the reader on the issue of massive power/relational disparities that exist in the Muslim institution of marriage. For myself, it gave insight on the actualities of said constrictions to the woman, instead of merely stating that Muslim marriages are oppressive.
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