پژوهشکده زن و خانواده ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ مدیر مسئول: محمدرضا زیبایی نژاد مطالعات جنسیت و خانواده 2538-1938 12 4 2024 12 21 نقش ساختار حقوقی ایران در مقاومت زدایی از خانواده نقش ساختار حقوقی ایران در مقاومت زدایی از خانواده 14 42 237472 FA مهدی سجادی امین عضو هیات علمی 0009-0007-0938-373X Journal Article 2024 09 20 This study emphasizes the family as the smallest yet most fundamental unit of society—serving as the foundation of human dignity, emotional security, affection, mutual care, the legitimate fulfillment of emotional and sexual needs, reproduction, child-rearing, and intergenerational transmission of values. It underscores the critical role of laws and regulations in strengthening family resilience. However, certain existing legal provisions not only fail to support familial stability but may in fact contribute to its erosion. This critique can be examined from four primary perspectives. The first one concerns the underlying assumptions guiding the codification of family laws, many of which are open to critical scrutiny. The most significant of these assumptions is the conceptualization of marriage as a commutative contract. In reality, marriage should not be regarded as a commutative or quasi-commutative agreement—akin to a transaction involving reciprocal exchange (such as mahr [dower] in return for sexual availability or marital obedience). Rather, the essential purposes of marriage are spiritual, emotional, and humanistic, grounded in affection (muwaddah) and mercy (rahmah), as emphasized in Islamic ethical teachings. This perspective is further reinforced by examining the defining characteristics of commutative contracts—such as economic purpose, the impersonal nature of the contracting parties, the requirement that the exchanged objects be clearly specified, and mutual liability for compensation—and demonstrating their incompatibility with the nature of the marriage contract. One significant consequence of framing marriage as a commutative agreement is the legal recognition of ḥaqq al-ḥabs (the wife’s right to withhold marital duties). This right permits a wife to refrain from fulfilling her spousal obligations until her full mahr is paid. The author critically examines this provision within the marriage contract, arguing that its application—particularly in the current socio-legal context, where substantial mahr amounts are commonly stipulated and may take years to settle—contributes to a declining inclination among men toward marriage and family formation. Under such conditions, the husband is obligated to pay both installments of the mahr and spousal maintenance (nafaqah), while being deprived of the fundamental benefits of marriage, particularly conjugal relations. This creates significant hardship for men at the outset of married life and opens the possibility of misuse of this legal right. The second critique addresses the Iranian legal system’s failure to acknowledge and respond to recent transformations in family structures. Iranian society has undergone significant shifts in familial patterns, including rising age at first marriage, growing tendencies toward singlehood, decreasing social stigma associated with divorce, and changing attitudes among women toward employment and financial independence. Despite these developments, family-related legislation has remained largely unchanged and lacks the necessary flexibility to accommodate evolving social realities. This legal rigidity has contributed to widespread hesitation toward permanent marriage and has even led to the emergence of informal cohabitation arrangements—such as so-called "white marriage" (ezdevāj-e sefid)—which currently lack legal recognition and protection. The author emphasizes the need for the design and codification of diverse marriage contracts, leveraging existing juristic mechanisms such as stipulations within the marriage agreement (shurūṭ fī al-‘aqd). Such an approach would allow couples to manage their marital arrangements according to their specific needs, values, and socioeconomic circumstances, enabling individuals to choose a marriage framework that aligns with their personal and familial aspirations. Third, the critique addresses the inflexibility of formal legal provisions and the failure to uphold justice in judicial claims within the family domain. Current laws often assume fixed financial entitlements for women—such as mahr—without considering the duration of the marital relationship or the wife’s actual contribution to the shared household. It is proposed that mahr be recalibrated based on the husband’s current financial capacity or calculated as a percentage of assets acquired during the marriage, ensuring greater equity while mitigating disincentives to marriage formation. Fourth, the article critiques the overreliance on judicial mechanisms in resolving familial disputes and the underutilization of non-judicial alternatives. Divorce rates—particularly mutual consent divorces and those initiated by women—have risen significantly in recent years. The root causes of familial conflict are identified not solely in legal violations, but in ignorance, incapacity and unwillingness conditions that often call for restorative rather than punitive responses. The author argues that many such disputes would be better addressed through non-adjudicative means such as counseling, mediation (tahkīm), and arbitration. Resorting to formal courts, especially in emotionally sensitive and private family matters, frequently results in the public exposure of private affairs, emotional estrangement, and diminished prospects for reconciliation. Strengthening institutionalized mediation and arbitration bodies—consistent with Qur’anic injunctions can facilitate faster, more compassionate conflict resolution and reduce the harm caused by direct judicial intervention. In conclusion, the article underscores the urgent need for comprehensive review and reform of Iran’s family laws. Such reform should encompass: re-conceptualizing the nature of the marriage contract beyond transactional frameworks; revising provisions related to the wife’s right to withhold marital duties (ḥaqq al-ḥabs); aligning legislation with contemporary socio-cultural transformations in family life; and promoting non-judicial mechanisms for dispute resolution. The ultimate goal of these reforms is to enhance family resilience, protect the institution of the family from structural erosion, and mitigate the weakening effects of the current legal framework on familial stability. خانوادۀ مقاوم خانواده‌ای است که کارکردها و اهداف آن به‌خوبی تحقق یابد و اعضای خانواده به‌ویژه زوجین از منافع تشکیل آن بهره‌مند شوند و این خانواده بتواند خود را از آسیب‌های درونی و بیرونی مصون کند. از نگاه دینی، خانواده ریشه و اساس جامعه، محل انس و آرامش، کانون محبت، مودت و تأمین نیازهای عاطفی، بستر ارضا و تنظیم رفتار جنسی، تولیدمثل و مشروعیت‌بخشی به فرزندان، نهاد حمایت و مراقبت، راهی برای انتقال سنت‌ها و ارزش‌ها و درنهایت بهترین مسیر برای تربیت و رشد انسان است. در منابع دینی تشویق به ازدواج، تسهیل تزویج، حفظ قداست خانواده و تلاش برای استحکام و استواری روابط میان زوجین از امور مسلّم و قطعی است. در قرآن کریم از عقد ازدواج به «میثاق غلیظ» یاد شده که کاربرد انحصاری این واژه برای عقد ازدواج، بیانگر لزوم تعهد زوجین بر استحکام، پایایی و وفاداری به تعهدات است. در اسناد بالادستی کشور ازجمله اصل دهم قانون اساسی نیز تأکید شده همۀ قوانین و مقررات و برنامه‌ریزی‌های مربوط باید در جهت آسان کردن تشکیل خانواده، پاسداری از قداست آن و استواری روابط خانوادگی بر پایۀ حقوق و اخلاق اسلامی باشد. با بررسی قوانین مرتبط با خانواده همچون قانون مدنی ایران و قانون حمایت از خانواده می‌توان دریافت که سمت‌وسوی این قوانین نه‌تنها در راستای مقاومت‌زایی خانواده نیست؛ بلکه گاه مقاومت‌زداست. این قوانین را از چهار جهت می‌توان نقد و بررسی کرد: جهت اول: تدوین قوانین خانواده مبتنی بر پیش‌فرض‌های قابل انتقاد؛ جهت دوم: بی‌توجهی به تحولات خانوادۀ ایرانی و انطباق نداشتن قوانین موجود با تحولات اجتماعی؛ جهت سوم: بی‌توجهی به انواع خانواده و انعطاف‌ناپذیری قوانین شکلی در راستای اجرای عدالت در مطالبات قضایی در حوزۀ خانواده؛ جهت چهارم: رسیدگی به مشکلات و مسائل خانوادگی در مسیری غیر از سیستم قضایی.

https://www.jgfs.ir/article_237472_f4c35486b592700140775e7e0a1f40db.pdf