A Look at the Book “The Negation of Violence Against Women and Men in the Family from the Perspective of Shia Jurisprudence and International Documents”

Note: The term “violence against women” is a modern concept and a product of modernity’s entry into human life. Shia jurisprudence has, of course, addressed instances of violence against women within various jurisprudential chapters such as marriage, divorce, hudud (legal punishments), diyat (blood money), and others; however, this subject has rarely been treated as an independent heading separate from a specific jurisprudential chapter. “Violence against men,” meanwhile, is a more recently emerging topic than violence against women and has only in recent years attracted the attention of scholarly communities. Zahra Savar Sofla, in her book The Negation of Violence Against Women and Men in the Family from the Perspective of Shia Jurisprudence and International Documents, has attempted to compare the views of Shia jurisprudence regarding violence against women and men with the existing international documents on this subject. A report on this book follows.

The Book “The Negation of Violence Against Women and Men in the Family from the Perspective of Shia Jurisprudence and International Documents”

Zahra Savar Sofla, Nazari Publications, 1397 [2018], 200 pages.

In this book, the author examines the concept of violence both before and after the marriage of spouses.

She holds the view that, given that Arabs during the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) attributed no value whatsoever to women, the religion of Islam bestowed value and dignity upon women, and God established for family members rights and obligations coupled with moral conduct—particularly good companionship (husn al-mu’asharat)—so that affection, love, and tranquility might increase among them, enabling them to attain felicity and perfection; and in cases where these rights and obligations are abused, He has prescribed punishment for such abuse. By contrast, the Declaration of Human Rights, following the Second World War, in accordance with the perspective of Western schools of thought, ratified equal rights between women and men without regard for expediency (maslahat) or the innate differences between the sexes, and established commissions, conventions, and covenants to secure women’s rights, in order to eradicate discrimination against women. To this day, not only have they failed to reduce violence against women, but society has also come to face a new predicament known as violence by women against men. It should be noted that the foundational premises of the two perspectives are, in certain respects, contradictory, and in other respects, held in common.

Critiquing the feminist perspective, she writes: in our society today, enemies of Islam and proponents of feminism strive to portray religious rights and obligations as unjust and oppressive. Whereas, in fact, the prevalence of violence within Muslim families stems from non-Islamic culture and the abuse of religious rights. Even in Western countries, despite the slogan of equality, violence against women has still not decreased; rather, they now face new manifestations of violence.

In her view, the West regards certain religious rulings—such as a woman’s inheritance, among others—as constituting violence against women, and accordingly, relatively comprehensive research has been conducted in response to such claims. However, the examination of certain violent behaviors and acts (such as murder, leaving the home without the husband’s permission, and the like) based on Shia jurisprudence and international documents has received less attention from researchers. Likewise, violence against men has received less attention, and the existence of a few articles cannot adequately address this pervasive phenomenon found across all countries. Therefore, the existence of extensive research concerning both sexes appears to be a necessity.

The author defines domestic or marital violence as follows:

Among the definitions of domestic violence, another term—marital violence—is employed, which, in its broad sense, means: “the mistreatment of either spouse toward the other in a manner that results in physical or psychological harm to the other party.” “In many human societies, some men possess a dictatorial and aggressive disposition and seek absolute leadership within the home. Such men expect their spouse and children to obey and follow them completely. The response of these individuals to any form of non-conformity by other family members is highly aggressive and violent. At times, such individuals lose—or experience a significant weakening of—their sense of empathy or guilt regarding their own inappropriate speech and conduct.” According to statistics, the rate of mild abuse against women stands at 120 per thousand, while the rate of severe abuse against women stands at 381 per thousand. Some reports also indicate that, according to global statistics, approximately 90% of domestic violence victims are women, while the remaining 10% are men.

She cites the story of Asiyah as an example of a husband’s violence against his wife, as narrated in the Qur’an:

“[Remember] when she said: ‘My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his conduct, and save me from the wrongdoing people.’” Some exegetes have stated: “Pharaoh subjected his wife to severe torture on account of her having believed, binding her to four stakes and exposing her to direct sunlight, while also placing a large stone upon her.”

Table of Contents

The contents presented in this book are as follows:

Introduction

Chapter One: Clarification of Concepts

• Discussion One: The Concept of Violence
• Discussion Two: The Concept of Shia Jurisprudence
• Discussion Three: The Concept of International Documents
• Discussion Four: The Concept of Feminism
• Discussion Five: The Concept of Family

Chapter Two: Violence

• Discussion One: Categories of Violence
  • Section One: Classification of Violence from the Perspective of Shia Jurisprudence and Human Rights
  • Section Two: Classification of Violence from the Perspective of the Nature of Harm
  • Section Three: Classification of Violence from the Perspective of the Scope of Violence
• Discussion Two: Causes of Violence
  • Section One: Individual and Personality-Based Causes
  • Section Two: Familial Causes
  • Section Three: Sociological Causes
• Discussion Three: Consequences of Violence
  • Section One: Physical Consequences
  • Section Two: Psychological Consequences
  • Section Three: Sexual Consequences
  • Section Four: Familial Consequences
  • Section Five: Social Consequences
  • Section Six: Economic Consequences

Chapter Three: The Foundational Premises of Islam and the West Regarding Violence

• Discussion One: Conflicts Between the Foundational Premises of Islam and the West Regarding Violence
  • Section One: Western Foundational Premises Regarding Violence
  • Section Two: Islamic Foundational Premises Regarding Violence
• Discussion Two: Commonalities Between the Foundational Premises of Islam and the West Regarding Violence

Chapter Four: Points of Convergence and Divergence Between Imami Jurisprudence and International Documents Regarding Acts of Violence Against Women and Men

• Discussion One: Points of Convergence Between the Two Perspectives Regarding Acts of Violence Against Women and Men
  • Section One: Forms of Violence Common to Both Women and Men
  • Section Two: Violence by Men Against Women
  • Section Three: Violence by Women Against Men
• Discussion Two: Points of Divergence Between the Two Perspectives Regarding Acts of Violence Against Women and Men
  • Section One: Forms of Violence Common to Both Women and Men
  • Section Two: Violence by Men Against Women
  • Section Three: Violence by Women Against Men