The Qur An s Most Noticeable Features Is The Lack Of...

One of the Qur’an’s most noticeable features is the lack of everyday instruction. Only a small fraction of verses provide specific commands for the lives of believers, leaving Islamic scholars with the task of interpreting this small collection into a comprehensive code. Traditionally, scholars use what the Qur’an does teach combined with the traditions recorded in hadiths and other historical precedents to prescribe legal action in some form. Muslim jurist al-Nawawi offers an example of this trend in his discussion of marriage, which contains strict and detailed instructions for the complete process of choosing wives and, if necessary, divorcing them. The themes of limited agency for women, sexual activity as a duty, and tradition in divorce laws prove that Islamic law attentively protects the social position of women, to the point of prohibiting them from attempting to change it. Throughout his description of the marriage process, Nawawi emphasizes the subordin ate position of women in deciding their futures. Nawawi first establishes a father’s rights over his daughter, saying, â€Å"A father can dispose as he pleases of the hand of his daughter, without her consent, whatever her age may be, provided she is still a virgin† but adding that she must consent if she has lost her virginity. However, the power to serve as a woman’s agent does not stop with the father. Instead, he writes that the list of people who can act as guardian include â€Å"first of all the father, then father’s