The Rights and Obligations of Spouses in Islamic Classic Law

In: Iliria international review, Band 3, Heft 2, S. 183

Abstract

Islamic Law, the third largest global legal system, next to Civil Law and Common Law, has been far -back subject of an increased interest to the academics. Its main peculiarity is the absorption of theology in the law. There is no clear borderline between juridical and religious regulation. For this reason it is important to understand how certain legal institutes where regulated in the past. In fact, Islamic classic law despite its later evolution is considered the most authoritative legal source, because closest to the Divine Revelation.With regard to the rights and obligations of spouses, they're conceived in terms of complementary, while their equality is interpreted in terms of moral and spiritual rights and obligations. In order to better comprehend their rights and obligations, it is necessary to analyze the different roles of gender inside the Islamic family.Given the premises, this paper will focus on specific rights and obligations between spouses and with regard to the child-parent relationship. In particular, it will treat the meaning of the supremacy or authority of the man to the woman; the rights and obligations that they have towards the children born in and out of wedlock; the questions on the practice of the polygyny.