The Semantic of The Term Maroof in The Holy Quran and Its Relevance to Women's Rights in The Family

The word m‘aroof (righteous deed) in the Holy Quran denotes the manifest action of good deeds and includes all kinds of obedience. The words ‘urf (custom) and m‘aroof occur more than forty times in the Holy Quran, mostly in the legal passages. More than half of these relate to women's rights in the family. Utilising the structural semantic (i.e. the semantic relationships at word level), the present article analyses the word m‘aroof. The contrast of this word with nakr and munkar (reprehensible or execrable deed) and jahl (ignorance) demonstrates that m‘aroof and ‘urf in the Holy Quran mean “widely known”, “good”, “an action in accordance with nature, religious law (shar’) and custom (‘urf)” and “acting wisely.”The word m‘aroof in the Holy Quran shows that in some verses women's rights in married life as well as their financial and other needs and ways of treating them are understood in a general and absolute way. The usage of this word in the Holy Quran indicates that all women's rights within the family should be established and observed in accordance with nature, logical reasoning, Islamic law, custom and culture of the society in question.