- As in many religions, Islam views marriage both as a moral and a social issue. The religion views the family as the fundamental societal unit; it is only considered to be valid between a man and a woman, and it is the only sanctioned way for a couple to have sexual intercourse. Islam also regards marriage as an important forum for physical needs. For these reasons among others, there are no regulations against anybody in the church marrying, unlike Catholicism, which prohibits priests and nuns from having marriage partners.
- To validate a marriage, both members of the couple must consent to the union; the groom must give the bride a gift, called a "mahr"; witnesses must be present; and the marriage needs to be publicized. (Islam regards secret marriages as a potential source of community suspicion and trouble.) Marriages can be arranged, but both parties must still consent to the union, rather than having their parents choose the spouse and the couple having no choice in whom they marry.
- Islam differs from many Western religions in its explicit attitude toward the role of the woman and the man in the marriage. The woman has a right to her own marriage gift, given by her parents, allowing her to have her own property of some kind. At the same time, she has the right to be maintained in the style to which she is accustomed, provided that her husband can afford it. He must provide for her housing, clothes and other necessities; her lodging must be spacious enough to give her enough privacy and independence.
- Conversely, the woman is expected to contribute to her husband's comfort and success. She cannot try to avoid conceiving children, and must be "responsive to his advances," as Dr. Sherif Mohammed writes, as far as her health allows. The wife must not have any men in the house without her husband's knowledge and permission, nor may she accept gifts from them. Similarly, she cannot dispose of her husbands' belongings without his knowledge and explicit permission.
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