Married Muslim Women Research Articles

Contraceptive Intention, Religious Attitudes and Sources of Spirituality in Married Muslim Women: A Descriptive Correlational Study in Türkiye.

This study was carried out to reveal the relationship between contraceptive intents, religious attitudes, and spiritual resources of married Muslim women. The study was conducted using a descriptive-correlational design. The study was conducted with 273 participants between July and November 2023. To collect data, the Personal Information Form, Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale, Ok-Religious Attitude Scale, and Contraceptive Intent Questionnaire were used. The data were evaluated using Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation tests. No significant relationship was found between the total and sub-scales of the Contraceptive Intent Questionnaire, Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale, and Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (p>0.05). A positive and high correlation was detected between the total, emotion, relationship, and behavior sub-scales of the Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale and Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (p<0.05). The contraceptive intent levels of women were found to be associated with some of their socio-demographic and obstetric variables (age, previous delivery method, sex of existing children, and contraceptive method used). The only variable that showed a significant relationship with all three scales was found to be the sex of the existing children of women. Some socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of married Muslim women are related to the sex of the child they have, their contraceptive intents, spiritual resources, and religious attitudes. In contraceptive counseling services provided to Muslim women, their religious attitudes and spiritual resources should be taken into consideration.

Development of an Emotional Divorce Model in Women Using Happiness, Religious Attitude, and Marital Satisfaction

Background: This study aimed to elucidate a model of emotional divorce in Iranian Muslim women, based on factors such as happiness, religious attitude, and marital satisfaction.&#x0D; Methods: This research employed an applied approach with a descriptive-correlational design. The research sample comprised 337 married Muslim women of Yazd in 2021, selected using convenience sampling. In the model developed, the variables included happiness and religious attitude (exogenous variables), marital satisfaction (endogenous mediator variable), and emotional divorce (endogenous variable). Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), Gutman's Emotional Divorce Questionnaire (GEDQ), the Religion Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ), and the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMSS). Data analysis was performed using SPSS-21 and LISREL-8.80 software. The Sobel test was also utilized to explore the mediating role of marital satisfaction.&#x0D; Results: The findings revealed that happiness has a direct and significant impact on marital satisfaction. Happiness, religious attitude, and marital satisfaction all exhibited significant and direct effects on emotional divorce (p &lt; 0.05). Additionally, happiness, through its influence on marital satisfaction, was found to affect the emotional divorce of women.&#x0D; Conclusion: It can be inferred that higher levels of happiness in women are associated with increased marital satisfaction. Moreover, greater happiness and marital satisfaction in women correspond to a reduced likelihood of experiencing emotional divorce in the future.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019: A Law with A Hollow Scheme

The fight of Muslim women in India is a crusade of rights. They have often remained a puppet in the name of “Women’s rights”. The major reason behind this is a lack of shrewdness of those women who give green signal to shallow and superfluous rights by victimizing their eternal rights. One such recent example which has been a subject of controversy is victimized Muslim women who assuredly need protection through the liberal rights discourse but are bestowed the insignificant rights through the currently enacted, The Muslim women (Protection of rights on marriage) Act, 2019. This Legislation has been highlighted as social reformation for married Muslim women which ensures Gender equality and helps promote married Muslim women’s fundamental rights and their empowerment. To the contrary, this act shows red eye towards Muslim husband by criminalizing the pronouncement of triple talaq. This paper explores the issue of criminalizing private conduct under the shade of Jurisprudence which determines State’s limit to regulate private behaviour. Furthermore, it advocates reviving the identity of Muslim women by unveiling the repercussions of the provisions of the Act. It further efforts to solve the issue of triple talaq by taking it to the plane of ‘Individual Autonomy’. The present research is descriptive in nature based on secondary data.

On the Outside Looking In: Difficulties in Obtaining the Opinions of Muslim Religious Leaders’ Views on Domestic Violence Experienced by Married Muslim Women

In this paper I discuss the difficulties I faced in getting access to respondents in a qualitative study on the opinions of Muslim religious leaders on domestic violence experienced by Muslim married women. This in turn highlighted the need for me to reflect carefully on my own assumptions about my insider status and take into account how prospective participants identify me as a researcher. For the study on which I am reflecting, I chose an interpretive research paradigm which falls under the umbrella of qualitative research. This research paradigm was necessary as it places emphasis on context and nuanced meanings and was intended to allow me to interrogate the way religious leaders dealt with domestic violence and the rationale behind their approaches. Using this approach allowed me to explore some of the structural constraints that came to the fore via anecdotal research. This paper presents the challenges I faced and how I looked to overcome them and includes a detailed discussion of why the qualitative research approach was the most appropriate for this study, how I selected the participants, and how I experienced the interview process. Importantly, it speaks to reflexivity. In May of 2017, I set out to conduct in-depth semi-structured interviews within the Gauteng region using purposive and snowball sampling. Trying to access participants proved to be difficult and it became clear that a mistrust exists between the academy and some theological organizations. Insider/outsider phenomena, which were envisaged at the proposal stage, proved to be important.

Attitudes of Married Muslim Women Regarding Family Planning Methods During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Western Turkey

COVID-19 had negative effects upon family planning. Women cannot visit healthcare facilities because of a fear of curfew-related sanctions or exposure to COVID-19. It is seen that religious beliefs are influential especially in terms of family planning method preference and having abortions. This study was conducted to determine the attitudes of married Muslim women regarding family planning methods during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 611 married Muslim women who presented to the family planning outpatient clinic of a public hospital in Western Turkey between 1 September 2020 and 1 March 2021. The mean Family Planning Attitude Scale score of the women was found to be 137.53 ± 27.11. It was observed that, as the mean age of the women increased, their family planning attitudes were more positive, and as their number of pregnancies, abortions and living children increased, their attitudes were more negative (p < 0.05). Women do not want to get pregnant during the pandemic process. This is because the effects of COVID-19 on both themselves and the baby to be born are not known, which worries women. Therefore, in order to transform positive attitudes regarding family planning into behavior, it is recommended to provide effective training and consultancy services during the pandemic period.

Desire for Social Freedom and Life Satisfaction among Working and Non-Working Muslim Women of Ranchi Town

The main aim of the present research was to examine the impact of marital and working status on desire for social freedom and life satisfaction among Muslim women of Ranchi Town. It was hypothesized that there is no difference between married & un-married and working & non-working Muslim women on desire for social freedom and life satisfaction. The sample of the study comprised of 40 Muslim women (20 working and 20 non-working) of Ranchi Town. To collect the required data, “Women Social Freedom Scale developed by Bhusan, (1987)” which consists of 24 items and “life satisfaction scale developed by Alam and Srivastava, (1996)” which consists of 60 statements were administered on all participants. The obtained data was analyzed with the help of Percentages, Mean, SD and ‘t’ test. Result showed that most Muslim women of the total sample had average level of social freedom and life satisfaction. It was also found that Un-married Muslim women had more social freedom than married Muslim women.

Criminalisation of Triple Talaq: Dissecting the Constitutional and Socio-Legal Aspects

Talaq-e-biddat has been a source of severe oppression and injustice for Muslim women. The practice results in the unilateral breakdown of a marriage at the whim of the husband. The judicial trend has evolved against the practice since the courts have, at several occasions, declared the practice to be unacceptable with certain qualifications. In Shayara Bano v. Union of India, the Supreme Court conclusively struck down this practice. Subsequently, the Parliament came up with the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 which declared the practice as void and illegal. The Bill also makes the practice a non-bailable and cognizable offence and provides imprisonment of three years for the same. The authors critically examine the bill and conclude that criminalising an act of private nature would have adverse repercussions on the institution of marriage. Although the Bill might prohibit triple talaq, it seems highly improbable that it would effectively achieve its objective of protecting the rights of married Muslim women at the same time. The authors suggest an alternative scheme which would achieve the objective of the Bill while overcoming its limitations.

Sex Education in Pesantren: The Study of Kitab on Sex Manuals in Pesantren in Bandung, West Java

This paper examines the sexual agency exercised by married Muslim women in Bandung, Indonesia, in their marital relationships. Dominant discourses teach that women should obey their husbands, and most women believe that they should serve their husbands sexually whenever required. Sex is a taboo subject and women should not discuss sex or initiate sex. Their sexual desire is not acknowledged. However, in-depth interviews with 42 married women, and some husbands, found that a few exceptional women managed to challenge or negotiate around these dominant discourses. The paper examines their exercise of agency with regard to the initiation of sex, positions and practices that they prefer, their ability to say no to sex, ways to avoid having sex and their demand for mutual pleasure in sex.

Women exercising sexual agency in Indonesia

This paper examines the sexual agency exercised by married Muslim women in Bandung, Indonesia, in their marital relationships. Dominant discourses teach that women should obey their husbands, and most women believe that they should serve their husbands sexually whenever required. Sex is a taboo subject and women should not discuss sex or initiate sex. Their sexual desire is not acknowledged. However, in-depth interviews with 42 married women, and some husbands, found that a few exceptional women managed to challenge or negotiate around these dominant discourses. The paper examines their exercise of agency with regard to the initiation of sex, positions and practices that they prefer, their ability to say no to sex, ways to avoid having sex and their demand for mutual pleasure in sex.

Role of gender in decision-making: a study of women attached in handloom weaving

This research attempts to examine the decision-making power of women engaged in handloom weaving at Varanasi in the Northern Indian province of Uttar Pradesh. The handloom weaving is labour intensive and needs indispensable and sizeable contribution of women of the weavers' families. Decision-making power is a significant tool to examine the position, inequality, empowerment and autonomy of the women within the household and in the society at large. The data on making decision regarding household works (cooking), purchase of goods, mobility, childrens education, access to money, contraceptive behaviour, number children and sexual initiative were collected from 500 married Muslim women of the weaver families of Varanasi. The selected narratives of qualitative data are presented to support of the findings of quantitative analysis. Chi-square test illustrated that significantly the husbands take major decisions independently and women's decision, if at all, is subject to consent of their husbands.

A clinical trial of the effect of sexual health education on the quality of life of married Muslim women in Iran.

Marital satisfaction is one of the key factors affecting women's holistic health. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sexual health education on the quality of life in married women. The present controlled clinical trial was conducted with a pretest-posttest design on a study population of 60 women (aged 20-45) admitted to select health centres affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Samples were selected through convenience sampling and randomly allocated to an intervention group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). The data collection tool was the WHOQOL completed by participants first in the pretest and then in the follow-up posttest (after 2 months). The intervention group received sexual health education, while no interventions were provided to the control group. Data were analysed in SPSS-16 using the paired t-test and the independent t-test. Participants were matched in the two groups in terms of demographic variables such as age, occupation, age at marriage, duration of marriage, residential status and income level. At the baseline, no significant differences were observed between the intervention group (77.35±9.36) and the control group (75.64±8.32) in terms of the quality of life score (P=0.26). After the intervention, the quality of life score was 94.3±6.54 in the intervention group and 74.2±7.33 in the control group, making for a significant difference (P<0.01). Based on the findings, sexual health education can help women improve their sexual health through promoting sexual and marital satisfaction and consequently improve their quality of life.