Shari'ah (Islamic Law): Difference between revisions

Under Islam, a husband has a right to take up to four wives (due to {{Quran|4|3}}) and has significant control over his wives. Under the Hanbali school alone, women may stipulate conditions in the marriage contract to grant greater freedom of movement or to have the marriage dissolved if her husband takes an additional wife.<ref>John L. Eposito, "Women in Muslim Family Law", Second edition, 2001, p. 22</ref> Such stipulations are unenforcable according to the Hanafi, Shafi'i, and Maliki schools on the basis that they cannot overide his Quranic rights.<ref>Kecia Ali, ''Marriage and Slavery in early Islam'', Harvard University Pross, 2010, p. 74 and ftn. 31 on p. 220</ref> All schools agree though that he may delegate to his wife his powerful, Quranic ''talaq'' (divorce) rights at any time. This is called ''talaq al-tafwid'', and can be conditional such as in the event that he takes another wife (the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools allow him to later revoke this delegation).<ref>Muhammad Ifzal Mehmood (2019) ''[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338688656_A_Study_of_Talaq_Al-Tafwid_in_Islamic_Law_and_Contemporary_Legislations_Should_Malaysia_Follow_Suit A Study of Talaq Al-Tafwid in Islamic Law and Contemporary Legislations: Should Malaysia Follow Suit?]'', Bahria University</ref> In most cases such a stipulation or delegation will not have been agreed ahead of the marriage, though an increasing number of countries in the Muslim world have made reforms to family law to limit polygamy or provide other legal routes for the first wife to seek divorce. Otherwise the husband's rights are automatic.