History of Marriage Contracts in Egypt

While religious guidance may be central in choosing a spouse or expectations from marriage, until the nineteenth century, it was the contractual nature of marriage that defined the actual union entered into by husband and wife and according to which they lived together. Most importantly, marriage contracts could and often did include specific conditions agreed upon by the parties to the contract. The modern period will witness a shift toward privileging the religious side of marriage at the cost of the contractual and women's agency would experience a serious shift due to modern personal status laws.