CHAPTER 6
MARRIAGE

SEC. 1 — SIGNIFICANCE OF MARRIAGE

‘Ibādāt and mu ‘āmalāt

In the foregoing five chapters we have dealt with laws relating to the self-development of the community as a whole, or, as they are generally called, the laws governing the relations of man to God — the religious duties of man in a stricter sense. In the terminology of Fiqh, these are classed as ‘ibādāt.1 They undoubtedly relate not only to the spiritual growth of man but also to the growth of the community, or rather humanity, as a whole. But the scope of the religion of Islām is, as already stated, very wide and covers the whole field of the relations of man to man, as well as that of man to God. The object of the laws relating to this part of human life is to teach man his duties and obligations to others, and to show him how to lead a happy life in this world in his relations with others. Technically, these are called mu‘āmalāt or transactions,2 and include the laws relating to home life, civic life and the political life of man. In the Fiqh terminology, the mu‘āmalāt are either contracts and agreements, to which the mutual consent of the contracting parties is required, or matters depending on the will of a single person, or general laws and regulations.

Ḥudūd or restrictions

In all these matters the Islamic law imposes certain restrictions, for the benefit of society, upon the free acts of men as members of that society. The Arabic word for these restrictions is ḥudūd.3 In the Holy Qur’ān, the expression ḥudūd Allāh (limits of God) is used in connection with the Divine ordinances on various subjects, such as matters relating to marriage and divorce and good treatment of women4, fasting5 and laws of inheritance6, and also in a general sense relating to all kinds of restrictive ordinances7, but never with regard to