Week 10: "Marriage, Money, and Sex" By Kecia Ali

"After the first time, intercourse is his right, not her right."

Kecia Ali begins to talk about the dower; that is, a certain amount of money that the man is obligated to give to his wife upon divorce. Often times that does not happen. She goes on to talk about how the husband is obligated to provide for his wife and the household. If failure to do so, the wife can request a divorce through the courts. 

This reading has several parallels to the documentary we watched in class, "Divorce: Iranian Style." We see how women are oppressed in the marriage institution and don't really have much of a say. "Sex is, by and large, a male right and female duty" (13). In other words, all the husband has to do is sexually satisfy his wife three times a  year and she has to be sexually available to him at all times. Another example of the law benefiting men and suppressing women is that, "the legal tradition fundamentally views marriage as an exchange of lawful sexual access for dower, and continued sexual availability for support" (13). 

In the United States, things are a bit different for Muslims as the courts do not recognize the dower. The husband or the wife can file for divorce as Islamic law is not fully recognized. 

Ali ultimately suggests that one way in thinking about a more equal opportunistic marriage system is reconsidering the dower, spousal support, and intermarriage. There are laws in the Quran that refer to seventh-century Arabia, but maybe should be slightly altered in order to further meet modern needs as people have changed since then?