Judicial Guardianship in Marriage: A Comparative Study of Indonesia’s Shāfiʿī and Iran’s Jaʿfarī Schools from a Maqāsid alSharīʿah Perspective

The concept of judicial guardianship in marriage is a significant issue in Islamic family law that highlights the fundamental differences between the Shāfiʿī school in Indonesia and the Jaʿfarī school in Iran. This distinction is not only juridical but also closely linked to the objectives of marriage (maqāsid al-nikāh), namely the preservation of religion (hifz al-dīn), lineage (hifz al-nasl), dignity (hifz al-ʿird), and family welfare. This study employs a qualitative-juridical approach with normative comparative analysis. Data were drawn from classical fiqh texts, Indonesian and Iranian marriage regulations, and contemporary literature. The analysis proceeded in three stages: (1) identifying normative texts concerning guardianship and judicial guardianship in the Shāfiʿī and Jaʿfarī traditions, (2) comparing their conceptual and practical applications, and (3) evaluating their alignment with maqāṣid
al-nikāḥ, particularly in promoting benefits, preventing harm (mafsadah), and ensuring family
continuity. The findings show that the Shāfiʿī school regards the guardian as a prerequisite
for valid marriage, with the judicial guardian acting as a substitute when a lineage guardian
is absent or unqualified. By contrast, the Jaʿfarī school allows adult women to contract
marriage without a guardian, except under specific circumstances. These differences reflect
the dynamic nature of Islamic legal thought in responding to social realities, yet both
approaches ultimately aim to realize the maqāṣid al-nikāḥ: legal certainty, protection of
dignity, and household stability. The novelty of this research lies in integrating cross
sectarian comparative analysis with the framework of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, an approach still
rarely applied in studies of Islamic family law, particularly in the Indonesian and Iranian
contexts. The implications of this research are twofold: enriching comparative fiqh
scholarship as a reference for academic discourse and providing practical insights for the
formulation of marriage regulations that remain faithful to sharīʿah while responsive to
evolving social dynamics.