UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law

According to Iranian family law, marriage restricts women’s rights to employment and freedom of movement. Under specific circumstances, the exercise of these rights is subject to the spouse’s consent. This unbalanced power relation between spouses can be rectified in three ways: reforming existing laws, judicial intervention, and contracts. This article illustrates that the first two solutions are not feasible in Iran’s legal regime. At the same time, marriage contracts allow the parties to lift legal discrimination and agree on equal rights by mutual consent. Case law, jurisprudential and legal principles show that contracts’ potential can reform the status quo more effectively. The conventional Islamic family forms different rights and duties for spouses. These are unbalanced leverages that lubricate family law controversies. Accordingly, this article argues that marriage contracts can balance these forces and create both equality and equilibrium in the family.