This article addresses the differences between jurists of the three Shīʿī sects – Zaydīs,
Ismāʿīlīs, and Twelver Shīʿīs – concerning the marriage contract. In general, Zaydī,
Ismāʿīlī, and Twelver jurists agree on three elements of the marriage contract of a
woman who is an adult, single, and a virgin (bikr). However, they disagree over certain
elements of the contract, the dower, the role of the marriage guardian (walī), the minimum legal age for women to marry, and the role of the adult single woman in concluding her own marriage contract. I examine the varying degrees of agency each Shīʿī sect
granted women in contracting their marriages in the period between 900 and 1600 ce
I argue that Shīʿī substantive law (fiqh) is as restrictive as Sunnī fiqh regarding a woman’s
role in contracting her marriage.