Huquq al-Mara fi Daw al-Kitab wal-Sunna
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Huquq al-Mara fi Daw al-Kitab wal-Sunna (Rights of the Woman in the Light of the Quran and Sunna) is a contemporary legal and thematic study authored by the Saudi scholar Marzouq bin Hiyas al-Zahrani, examining the rights, obligations, and legal status of women in Islamic law .
Background and Purpose
Subtitled Dirasa Asriyya Muwaththaqa ("A Documented Contemporary Study"), the book was written to counter modern Western and secular campaigns regarding women's liberation . Al-Zahrani argues that contemporary ideological attacks claim Islam deprives women of their rights and that Muslim scholars must articulate the comprehensive rights granted to women under the Quran and the Prophetic Sunna to refute these misconceptions .
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into an introduction, three main parts divided into chapters and sub-sections, a conclusion, and reference indexes :
- Part One: On the Human Being (Hawl al-Insan) covers the creation and dignity of human beings, exploring the linguistic definition of humankind, origins of creation, and humanity's relationship with divine revelation .
- Part Two: Equality Between Men and Women (al-Musawa bayn al-Rajul wal-Mara) addresses areas where both genders share equal rights and responsibilities . The first chapter discusses equality in the origin of creation, the right to life, human dignity, earning, lawful marriage, spousal selection, and physical intimacy . The second chapter treats equality in religious accountability (taklif), personal responsibility, penal law (hudud), consultation (shura), freedom of opinion, education, and teaching others .
- Part Three: Differences Between Men and Women (al-Furuq bayn al-Rajul wal-Mara) explores gender-specific rulings . The first chapter details matters exclusive to men, such as guardianship (qawama), mandatory congregational prayer, polygyny, marital rights, lineage attribution, certain inheritance and testimony distinctions, public and private authority, combat duty (jihad), and mandatory financial support (nafaqa) . The second chapter details matters specific to women, such as the obligation of the veil (hijab), rights of suckling and child custody, family care, the special status of motherhood, exemption from combat, waiting periods (idda), divorce procedures and consensual separation (khul), protection from harm, and inheritance entitlements .
The book ends with a conclusion and detailed indexes for Quranic verses, hadiths, cited sources, and subjects .
Method and Reception
The book employs a thematic interpretive method (tafsir mawdui) by tracking Quranic verses on women's rulings, interpreting them in light of classical exegesis, and supplementing them with authentic hadiths . In legal deductions, the author frequently inclines toward the positions of the Hanbali school and the Salafi theological and legal tradition associated with Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya .
Published in its first volume by Dar al-Asima in Riyadh, the work was praised in contemporary scholarly reviews, such as in Majallat al-Bayan, for its clear presentation, accessible style, abundant documentation, and systematic refutation of modern doubts concerning the status of women in Islam .
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