The girl in a Muslim family is no liability.

The girl in a Muslim family is no liability. A woman is so dignified by Islam that she does not need to present gifts in order to attract potential husbands. It is the groom who must present the bride with a marriage gift. This gift is considered her property and neither the groom nor the bride’s family have any share in or control over it.

In some Muslim societies today, a marriage gift of a hundred thousand dollars in diamonds is not unusual.[^10] The bride retains her marriage gifts even if she is later divorced.

The husband is not allowed any share in his wife’s property except what she offers him with her free consent.[^11] The Qur’an has stated its position on this issue quite clearly: “And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.”(4:4) The wife’s property and earnings are under her full control and for her use alone since her, and the children’s, maintenance is her husband’s responsibility.[^12] No matter how rich the wife might be, she is not obliged to act as a co-provider for the family unless she herself voluntarily chooses to do so.

Spouses do inherit from one another. Moreover, a married woman in Islam retains her independent legal personality and her family name.[^13] An American judge once commented on the rights of Muslim women saying: “A Muslim girl may marry ten times, but her individuality is not absorbed by that of her various husbands. She is a solar planet with a name and legal personality of her own.”[^14] The three religions share an unshakeable belief in the importance of marriage and family life.

They also agree on the leadership of the husband over the family. Nevertheless, blatant differences do exist among the three religions with respect to the limits of this leadership. The Judaeo-Christian tradition, unlike Islam, virtually extends the leadership of the husband into ownership of his wife. [^1]: Louis M. Epstein, The Jewish Marriage Contract (New York: Arno Press, 1973) p. 149. [^2]: Swidler, op. cit., p. 142. [^3]: Epstein, op. cit., pp. 164-165. [^4]: Ibid., pp. 112-113.

See also Priesand, op. cit., p. 15. [^5]: James A. Brundage, Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987) p. 88. [^6]: Ibid., p. 480. [^7]: R. Thompson, Women in Stuart England and America (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974) p. 162.