Christianity, Judaism and Islam share an
unshakeable belief in the importance of marriage and family life. They also
agree on the leadership of the husband over the family. Nevertheless, blatant
differences do exist among the three religions with respect to the limits of
this leadership. The Judaeo-Christian tradition, unlike Islam, virtually
extends the leadership of the husband into ownership of his wife.
The Jewish tradition regarding the husband's
role towards his wife stems from the conception that he owns her as he owns
his slave. This conception has been the reason behind the
double standard in the laws of adultery and behind the husband's ability to
annul his wife's vows. This conception has also been responsible for denying
the wife any control over her property or her earnings. As soon as a Jewish
woman got married, she completely lost any control over her property and
earnings to her husband. Jewish Rabbis asserted the husband's right to his wife's
property as a corollary of his possession of her: "Since one has come
into the possession of the woman does it not follow that he should come into
the possession of her property too?", and "Since he has
acquired the woman should he not acquire also her property?" Thus, marriage caused the
richest woman to become practically penniless. The Talmud describes the
financial situation of a wife as follows:
"How can a woman have anything; whatever is
hers belongs to her husband? What is his is his and what is hers is also
his...... Her earnings and what she may find in the streets are also his. The
household articles, even the crumbs of bread on the table, are his. Should she
invite a guest to her house and feed him, she would be stealing from her
husband..." (San. 71a, Git. 62a)
The fact of the matter is that the property of a
Jewish female was meant to attract suitors. A Jewish family would assign their
daughter a share of her father's estate to be used as a dowry in case of
marriage. It was this dowry that made Jewish daughters an unwelcome burden to
their fathers. The father had to raise his daughter for years and then prepare
for her marriage by providing a large dowry. Thus, a girl in a Jewish family
was a liability and no asset. This
liability explains why the birth of a daughter was not celebrated with joy in
the old Jewish society. The dowry was the wedding gift presented to the groom
under terms of tenancy. The husband would act as the practical owner of the
dowry but he could not sell it. The bride would lose any control over the dowry
at the moment of marriage. Moreover, she was expected to work after marriage
and all her earnings had to go to her husband in return for her maintenance
which was his obligation. She could regain her property only in two cases:
divorce or her husband's death. Should she die first, he would inherit her
property. In the case of the husband's death, the wife could regain her
pre-marital property but she was not entitled to inherit any share in her
deceased husband's own property. It has to be added that the groom also had to
present a marriage gift to his bride, yet again he was the practical owner of
this gift as long as they were married.
Christianity, until recently, has followed the
same Jewish tradition. Both religious and civil authorities in the Christian
Roman Empire (after Constantine) required a property agreement as a condition
for recognizing the marriage. Families offered their daughters increasing
dowries and, as a result, men tended to marry earlier while families postponed
their daughters' marriages until later than had been customary.
Under Canon law, a wife was entitled to restitution of her dowry
if the marriage was annulled unless she was guilty of adultery. In this case,
she forfeited her right to the dowry which remained in her husband's hands.
Under Canon and civil law a married woman in Christian Europe and
America had lost her property rights until late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. For example, women's rights under English law were compiled and
published in 1632. These 'rights' included: "That which the husband
hath is his own. That which the wife hath is the husband's."
The wife not only lost her property upon marriage, she lost her personality
as well. No act of her was of legal value. Her husband could repudiate any sale
or gift made by her as being of no binding legal value. The person with whom
she had any contract was held as a criminal for participating in a fraud.
Moreover, she could not sue or be sued in her own name, nor could she sue her
own husband. A married woman was practically treated as an
infant in the eyes of the law. The wife simply belonged to her husband and
therefore she lost her property, her legal personality, and her family name.
Islam, since the seventh century C.E., has
granted married women the independent personality which the Judaeo-Christian
West had deprived them until very recently. In Islam, the bride and her family
are under no obligation whatsoever to present a gift to the groom. The girl in
a Muslim family is no liability. A woman is so dignified by Islam that she does
not need to present gifts in order to attract potential husbands. It is the
groom who must present the bride with a marriage gift. This gift is considered
her property and neither the groom nor the bride's family have any share in or control
over it. In some Muslim societies today, a marriage gift of a hundred thousand
dollars in diamonds is not unusual. The
bride retains her marriage gifts even if she is later divorced. The husband is
not allowed any share in his wife's property except what she offers him with
her free consent. The Quran has stated its
position on this issue quite clearly:
"And give the women (on marriage) their dower
as a free gift; but if they, Of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it
to you, take it and enjoy it with right good cheer" (Qur’an
4:4)
The wife's property and earnings are under her
full control and for her use alone since her, and the children's, maintenance
is her husband's responsibility. No
matter how rich the wife might be, she is not obliged to act as a co-provider
for the family unless she herself voluntarily chooses to do so. Spouses do
inherit from one another. Moreover, a married woman in Islam retains her
independent legal personality and her family name.
An American judge once commented on the rights
of Muslim women saying: " A Muslim girl may marry ten times, but her
individuality is not absorbed by that of her various husbands. She is a
solar planet with a name and legal personality of her own."
