Cultural, Socio-political, Financial and Legal Factors Impact on Regional Marriage Contracts: A Move Analysis Method

Abstract

Moves within legal genres can vary depending on the legal system, cultural norms, and the needs and expectations of the users. This study aims to identify and compare the move structure in the marriage contracts of different world regions. The purpose is to discover the similarities and differences between marriage contracts in different contexts. Marriage contracts from five different regions, namely Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bahrain, India, and Ontario, have been used in this study. All the marriage contracts are mainly in the context of Muslim marriages. The results revealed that although the basic structure of all five contracts is almost similar in one way or another, there are some differences in the law enactment of these marriages depending upon the cultural and legal context within which they occur. Thus, it can be concluded that marriage contracts within the legal genre are subject to variation according to the peculiar socio-political, cultural, economic, and legal developments of a specific state or region.