The Interaction between Ethics and Law in the Family

Family is the noblest social institution and the major place for human exaltation. Societies’ health and happiness also depend on family integrity. Though a legal and jurisprudential attention to the family is necessary and the couples’ relationship must answer to that necessity at the minimum, one should not overlook the predominance of ethical standards in this regard. Among these, good companionship holds a particular place and is regarded to be a proof of legalization of those standards. This is rooted in the Quranic concept of good companionship with one’s spouse. The term ma’roof in the Quran implies both a praiseworthy act and a conventional one which are in their turn some ethical and value-laden concepts. According to the jurists, the couples’ good companionship should be in conformity with the existing conventions both in time and place. Therefore, there is a variety of good companionship in proportion to cultural and conventional norms. In our legal system, the couples’ obligations to give a combined assistance to the consolidation of family, children’s upbringing, mutual fidelity and shared domicile are some of the requirements for good companionship.