EDUCATIONAL KAFĀ’AH IN MARRIAGE: CONSTRUCTING MUSLIM UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS FROM ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENTIAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

The concept of kafa’ah in marriage has evolved alongside social changes within Muslim communities. Although formal education is not explicitly recognized as a primary element of kafa’ah in classical Islamic jurisprudence, it has increasingly been considered as a form of compatibility between spouses in contemporary contexts. This study aims to analyze Muslim university students’ perceptions of educational kafa’ah in spouse selection, identify sociocultural factors shaping these perceptions, and examine the position of education within the concept of kafa’ah from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence. This study employed a mixed-method approach using an explanatory sequential design. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires involving 69 Muslim students from several universities in Jember Regency, while qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with eight informants. Data were analyzed descriptively and thematically through integration with Islamic jurisprudential and sociocultural perspectives. The findings indicate that 98.6% of respondents considered education important or very important in selecting a spouse. However, educational kafa’ah was not understood as identical academic attainment, but rather as compatibility in intellectual capacity, communication ability, family readiness, and shared values. This study reveals a reconstruction of educational kafa’ah from attribute-based compatibility toward capacity-based compatibility, while maintaining religion and moral character as the primary foundations of marriage.