Offer and Acceptance in Islamic Marriage

doi:10.1017/9781009031783.016

Chapter 13 - Offer and Acceptance in Islamic Marriage

The Discussions of al-Mujāhid al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī (d. 1242/1827) in his Manāhil al-Aḥkām

from Part II - Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) and Related Genres

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024

Robert Gleave

Edited by

Omar Anchassi and

Robert Gleave

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Omar Anchassi: Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave: Affiliation:
University of Exeter

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Summary

This chapter explores the reasoning of al-Mujāhid al-Ṭabaṭabāʾī (d. 1242/1827) in his Manāhil al-Aḥkām as it relates to the question of offer and acceptance (ījāb wa-qabūl) in the context of marriage. Ordinarily, as in contracts of sale, offer would precede acceptance, but because of social norms surrounding marriage (and women’s agency), this order is reversed. The author justifies this reversal in terms of past authorities and custom. The passages excerpted in this chapter discuss how and when this reversal of the expected order might be possible, and in the course of the discussion cover many other important issues, such as whether marriage contracts operate in precisely the same way as other contracts, and the composition of the formulae for offer and acceptance.

Keywords

Majority view (mashhūr)Consensus (ijmāʿ)Sale (bayʿ)Offer (ījāb)Acceptance (qabūl)Marriage contract (ʿaqd al-nikāḥ)Guardian (walī)Agent (wakīl).

Type: Chapter
Information: Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
, pp. 141 - 154

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009031783.016 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2024

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References

Primary Sources

al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Sayyid al-Mujāhid Muḥammad. al-Manāhil (Qum: Muʾassasa Āl al-Bayt, n.d.), lithograph, 281–2 (Kitāb al-Bayʿ), 529–30 (Kitāb al-Nikāḥ).Google Scholar

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