Muslim marriages have been the focus of considerable public debate in Europe and beyond, in Muslim-majority countries as well as in settings where Muslims are a minority. Most academic work has focused on how the majority Sunni Muslims conclude marriages. This volume, in contrast, focuses on Twelver Shi'a Muslims in Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Indonesia, Norway, and the Netherlands. The volume makes an original contribution to understanding the global dynamics of Shi'a marriage practices in a wide range of contexts--not only its geographical spread but also by providing a critical analysis of the socio-economic, religious, ethnic, and political discourses of each context. The book sheds light on new marriage forms presented through a bottom up approach focusing on the lived experiences of Shi'a Muslims negotiating a diverse range of relationships and forms of belonging.
Series Foreword by Péter Berta
Introduction
ANNELIES MOORS AND YAFA SHANNEIK
PART ONE
Gender and Generation: New Dating and Marriage Practices
1 Marriage Modifications in Aliabad: Social Change Overrides Clerical Directives
MARY ELAINE HEGLAND
2 The New Marital Romance: How Bollywood, Islamic Doctrines, and Mobile Phones Dissect the Imperative of Spouse Evasion
ANNA-MARIA WALTER
PART TWO
Dower Practices: Signifying Religion, Ethnicity, and Class
3 The Dower (Mahr) and Wedding Ceremony among the Shi‘a of Oman: Religion, Class, and Ethnicity
JIHAN SAFAR
4 Mahr Iranian Style in Norway: Negotiating Gender Equality and Religious and Cultural Belonging through Transnational Shia Marriage Practices
PART THREE
Temporary Marriage: A Flexible and Controversial Institution
5 Mutʿa Marriage among Youth in the Non-Shi‘i Environment of Indonesia
EVA F. NISA
6 Between Love and Sex, Modernity and Archaism: Iranian Students’ Discourse in the Netherlands about Sigheh
SOPHIE-YVIE GIRARD
7 “Laboratory Sigheh”: The (Dis)Entanglements of Temporary Marriage and Third-Party Donation in Iran
TARA ASGARILALEH AND ANNELIES MOORS
Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
Index
