Martabat: Jurnal Perempuan dan Anak
Vol. 9 No. 2 (2025)

Challenging Patriarchal Readings of Nusyuz: A Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah Approach to Strengthening Women’s Legal Safeguards

Wati, Rahmatul Lidia (Unknown)
Rizkyta, Danisha Nashwa (Unknown)
Nadhifa, Azkiya Wafiq (Unknown)
Fadhilah, Nur (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
25 Jan 2026

Abstract

This study examines the reconstruction of nusyuz through the framework of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah in response to domestic violence against women in Indonesia. The research addresses three questions: how nusyuz is defined in classical fiqh and Indonesian statutory law, which Islamic legal principles support women’s right to safety and resistance to harm, and how maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah can be operationalized to produce a more just interpretation. Employing a normative legal research method, the study is based on qualitative library research. Data were obtained from primary legal sources, including classical fiqh texts, Qur’anic exegesis of QS 4:34, and Indonesian family law regulations—particularly the Kompilasi Hukum Islam—as well as secondary sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles on domestic violence, gender justice, and Islamic legal reform. The analysis was conducted through three stages: doctrinal analysis to map prevailing definitions of nusyuz; contextual-hermeneutical analysis to relate these doctrines to Indonesian socio-legal realities and judicial practices; and maqāṣid-based evaluation using ḥifẓ al-nafs, protection of dignity, and the principle of dar’ al-mafāsid as analytical benchmarks. The findings show that classical and statutory constructions of nusyuz are often shaped by patriarchal assumptions and inadequately distinguish disobedience from self-protection. This study concludes that acts undertaken by wives to protect themselves from harm cannot be classified as nusyuz, and that marital obligations must be understood as reciprocal. By operationalizing maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah as an analytical tool, this research offers a context-sensitive and doctrinally grounded framework for strengthening women’s legal safeguards in Islamic family law.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

martabat

Publisher

Subject

Education Social Sciences Other

Description

The scope of Martabat: Journal of Women and Children includes research on violence against women and children, the roles, empowerment, and existence of women from various perspectives, gender equality, child education, child psychology, and child ...