The Shafi’i’s and the School of Shafi’ite’s (the Nawawi’s and Ramli’s) Concept of Kafā’ah

Abstract

The harmonic household is viewed to be one of the ideals of marriage. The harmony is possible to gain when the couple have achieved the principles of kafā’ah covering the matters of education, economy, social status and morals. In dealing with the issue of kafā’ah, however, the scripture (al-Qur’ān and Sunnah) has no mentioned any specific regulation of it. Consequently, it tends to urge the emergence of various Islamic legal methods in order to invent the legal status of the issue. The primary literatures have depicted similarities among the Muslim jurists’ view (Shafi’i, Nawawi and Ramli) in formulating the criteria of kafā’ah in marriage, although they have remained differences. This article purposes to examine the literatures and identify the factors influence the formation of the concept, and also consider the acceleration of it in the development of the Shafi’i and Shafi’ite legal thought. This article argues that the similarities involve the theme of pedigree, religion and wealth in kafā’ah, while the differences cover the matters of the physical disability as one of the requirements and rights (khiyār) in terms of transaction. It has been fundamentally influenced by the social, cultural and geographic factors, and the intellectual capacity and capability of the legal scholars.