The demography of Arab-Muslim marriage: tradition and change
Fargues, P.
Maghreb Machrek 116: 59-73
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 1241-5294 PMID: 12179325 Document Number: 350588
Recent changes in marriage patterns in the Muslim Arab world are analyzed. The author notes that the problems posed by the early age at marriage for women, virtually universal marriage, and a surplus of women in the marriage market were traditionally resolved partly by polygyny but primarily by repudiation. Changes over the past 25 years have tended toward a stabilization of marriages and a decline in repudiation of wives.