Stipulations in Iranian Women’s Marriage Contracts

Abstract This article examines the legal and social functions of marriage contracts (sharts) in Qajar Iran, focusing on how women used these clauses to negotiate rights within a patriarchal legal framework. It argues that inserting specific stipulations into marriage contracts was one of the few legitimate means through which women could assert agency and secure protection prior to marriage. The sharts illuminate women’s interests, obligations, and expectations, revealing how financial security, education, and personal satisfaction were articulated as matters of justice and human dignity. By analyzing these clauses across different social strata, this study reevaluate the position of women in 19th-century Iran and demonstrates how legal instruments within Islamic jurisprudence both reflected and shaped broader economic, social, and political transformations.