MUSLIMCREED Already familiar with the word Syarifah? In general, syarifah is closely related to the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad who are awake to this day. Syarif or syarifah for women themselves are descendants of the Prophet Muhammad from the Hasan path. Meanwhile, sayyid (sayyidah for women) are descendants of the Prophet Muhammad from the Husein line. Hasan and Husein are the children of Ali bin Abu Talib who married the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, Fatimah.
The Importance of Syarifah in Marriage
One of the virtues of Syarifah that is widely discussed is her presence as the successor of the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, one of the emphasis is on marriage. In the Repository study of UIN Sunan Kalijaga, it has been mentioned that there is the concept of kafa’ah in marriage, which is an equivalence of men and women who want to marry in various ways, including in terms of religion, lineage, and work.
This concept finally gave birth to a ban on marriage between Syarifah and non Sayyid, because it was considered not sekufu’ and could damage or break the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad.
This study also shows the view of Habaib Jam’iyyah Rabi ah Alawiyyah Yogyakarta, which is a condition where a Syarifah then gets a ban on marrying a non-Sayyid man because he is considered not sekufu’. However, in this case, the prohibition is not absolute.
This is because kafā’ah is very dependent on the permission or pleasure of the guardian or the woman or the Syarifah. When Syarifah is married to a non-Sayyid man and his guardian is pleased, then the marriage law is allowed to be carried out.
On the other hand, a Syarifah who marries a non-Sayyid man without permission from his guardian will be considered as having cut off the relationship between the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the next discussion, we will discuss the views of the scholars about Syarifah.
The Ulama’s View of the Virtue of Syarifah
Regarding the virtue of Syarifah which is closely related to marriage and lineage, there are some scholars who later call it Kufu’ or Kafa’ah. For example, can a billionaire woman be married to a motorcycle taxi driver? Can a woman who graduated from S3 marry a man who graduated from junior high school? Etc. From this issue of kufu’, the scholars then have different opinions about whether kufu’ is a legal requirement for marriage, whether kufu’ is a must or not.
Scholars Disagree
Scholars who disagree with the primacy of Syarifah include Sheikh Sufyan Ats Saury, Sheikh Al-Hasan Al Bishry and one of the Hanafi school of thought, Sheikh Al Karakhy. The argument used is that all servants of Allah SWT are the same, whether they are Arab or non-Arab, rich or poor, all are equal in the eyes of Allah SWT.
The only difference is his piety. Another example is the marriage of Bilal Bin Rabah RA with Ansar women. This marriage itself is an order from the Prophet Muhammad. If kufu ‘is a condition for a valid marriage or a standard of equivalence, of course the Messenger of Allah then did not order it.
Agreed Scholars
The priests of the 4 schools of thought, namely Al Hanafi, Al Maliki, As-Syafi’I and Al Hambali then said that kufu’ was not a condition for a valid marriage. That is, the marriage is still valid without kufu’. They also then included kufu’ in the luzum condition, meaning that the marriage could be sued by the guardian if a husband was later judged to be disabled due to not being kufu’. The priests of this school also say that the purpose of kufu ‘is to maintain the continuity, benefit, and happiness of the husband and wife relationship.
Some other reasons are the hadith of Aisyah RA which contains recommendations for guardians to marry off their daughters to commensurate men. This is done so that later they can get good offspring.
There is also the hadith of Abi Hatim Al Muzanny RA regarding the order for guardians to marry off their daughters to men who are good in religion and morals. And the priests of this school also reasoned that kufu ‘is a very rational and natural thing in marriage.
The scholars who agree with the existence of kufu’ then only limit it to women. This is because they think that there is no problem if his wife is lower than him, for example from the aspect of social strata. In addition, it could also be for example a husband works as a director of a company and his wife is only a housewife.
Among the priests of the 4 madhhabs, only Imam Malik did not include lineage in the aspect of kufu’. Meanwhile, Imam Hanafi, Imam Shafi’I and Imam Hambali include lineage into an aspect of kufu.
