Forced Marriage in Shāfiʿī Law

Abstract

AbstractClassical legal doctrines matter to the lives of many Muslims today, whether by choice or circumstance. What significance might a classical mode of legal critique hold for Muslims invested in forms of feminist reform? This chapter examines an intra-school disputation between al-Shīrāzī and al-Juwaynī on the topic of forced marriage (ijbār al-bikr al-bāligh). It shows how al-Juwaynī drew on his own Shāfiʿī doctrine to challenge the consensus within his school of law that a father or grandfather could coerce his virgin daughter or granddaughter into an unwanted marriage. In so doing, al-Juwaynī reveals the doctrine of forced marriage as weaker than assumed by his Shāfiʿī colleagues. The chapter concludes by contending that contemporary feminist critiques of historical positions on topics like forced marriage should be understood as a continuation of the classical tradition in which prominent jurists treated the doctrines of their schools as objects of ongoing scrutiny and debate.