tion and status of a woman was thus transmitted in
some of the ™adìth reports. Some traditions main-
tain that women were created from a crooked rib;
others claim that a woman passing in front of a
man who is praying invalidates his prayer. This
derogatory tone is also evident in traditions that
indicate that most of the inhabitants of hell are
women, that women are deficient in intellect, and
that a wife’s salvation is contingent on keeping her
husband happy. A community that is led by women,
some traditions assert, cannot prosper. Women are
also portrayed as the source of fitna or seduction
and therefore must be excluded from public partic-
ipation. Women were therefore encouraged to pray
at home rather than in the mosque.
The pejorative stance on women in ™adìth is
often reflected in the juridical rulings stated in the
four schools of law. For the sake of brevity, the
entry focuses on the following women’s issues that
are discussed in the legal manuals: marriage,
divorce, and the rights of inheritance.Marriage
Emerging in the cosmopolitan and pluralistic
milieu of Kufa, £anafìlaw puts men and women
on the same footing with regard to their ability to
conclude important transactions, including mar-
riage. In Kufa, a girl who had reached the age of
puberty and could manage her own affairs was
allowed to marry without the consent of her
guardian. Reflecting the patrilineal and more tradi-
tional outlook of Medinan society where the male
members of a tribe decided on and concluded the
marriages of women, Màlik insisted on the need for
a guardian to conduct a marriage. The other Sunnì
schools of law also require the permission of the
guardian to conclude a marriage of a girl unless she
is not a virgin. This is a good example of how local
circumstances engendered variations in the legal
positions adopted by the different schools of law.
Under the pressures of reformation in recent times,
Tunisia, which follows Màlikìlaw, adopted the
£anafìdoctrine in 1957 and allowed an adult
woman to choose her spouse independently of the
wishes of her guardian.
All four schools allow the drawing of a prenup-
tial agreement. Due to its extensive employment of
the concept of public interest (maßla™a), £anbalì
fiqh is more tolerant and liberal in this ruling. It
permits a man to willingly stipulate in a prenuptial
contract that he will not marry another wife or, for
example, that he will not force his wife to leave her
home town. He is bound to honor such conditions
and if he violates them then the wife can unilater-
ally dissolve the marriage. The other three schools442 law: the four sunnìschools of family law
regard such conditions as void although the con-
tract is seen as valid. Using the concept of talfìq (lit-
erally, piecing together), Màlikìwives in Tunisia
and £anafìwives in Syria benefit from this liberal
£anbalìdoctrine relating to provisions in marriage
contracts for they are permitted to stipulate such
conditions in their marriage contracts.
The marriage contract has to include the mention
of bridal gift, called ßadàq or mahr. In pre-Islamic
Arabia, this was paid to the wife’s father. However,
the Qur±àn revised this and required that the mahr
be paid directly to the girl. All the four schools of
law maintain that the wife has the right to demand
the mahr immediately after the marriage has been
solemnized and before it is consummated. How-
ever, if she willingly accepts the consummation then
she loses the right to demand the mahrimmediately.
The impact of cultural factors is also evident in
finding a marital partner who is “equal” (kafà±a).
Reflecting the different classes of people inhabiting
Kufa, the £anafìs had an elaborate system regard-
ing compatibility, maintaining that the occupation
of the husband is essential in determining whether
he is equal to his spouse. Hence they recognize a
detailed hierarchy of professions. Like the £anafìs,
the Shàfi≠ìs and £anbalìs also require compatibility
in religion, social status, profession, and lineage.
Reflecting the lack of class differences and social
stratification in Medina the occupation of the hus-
band was not deemed to be an important consider-
ation for the Màlikìs. Although the concept of
kafà±a was later adopted by the Màlikìs, they in-
sist on compatibility of the couple in religious mat-
ters only.Divorce laws
All the legal schools granted a husband the uni-
lateral right to divorce his wife at his discretion,
whereas a woman who wished to be separated from
her husband had to go through a judicial process
where she had to demonstrate good grounds for
divorce.
Sunnìlaw accepted two forms of divorce, the reg-
ular form (†alàq al-sunna) and the reprehensible
version of triple divorce called (†alàq al-bid≠a). The
former consists of a single pronouncement of
divorce when the wife is not in her menstrual period
and without intercourse having taken place since
her last period. The husband has the right to take
the wife back during the waiting period (≠idda)
which lasts for three monthly cycles.
Most sources agree that the triple †alàq was intro-
duced by the second caliph, ≠Umar b. al-Kha††àb (d.
22/644), to punish some men who had divorced
women in jest and had taken it lightly. In this form