Reconstructing Islamic Family Law through Fiqh al-Usrah: Responding to Generation Z’s ‘Marriage Is Scary’ Anxiety

Abstract

The “Marriage Is Scary” discourse among Generation Z reflects anxiety about divorce, financial precarity, unequal gender roles, domestic violence, and loss of autonomy, often intensified by social-media narratives. This study examines how Faqihuddin Abdul Kodir’s Fiqh al-Usrah can conceptually reconstruct Islamic family law in response to these concerns. It employs qualitative library research, using Fiqh al-Usrah: Fondasi Akhlak Mulia dalam Hukum Keluarga (2025) and Qira’ah Mubadalah (2019) as primary texts. Thirty-four journal articles, official statistics, an institutional research report, and methodological works constitute the secondary corpus. The materials were selected through staged screening and analyzed through iterative coding, thematic synthesis, and contextual hermeneutics. Four findings emerge. First, Fiqh al-Usrah shifts family law from legal formalism toward an ethical-relational framework grounded in akhlāq and reciprocity. Second, its five marital pillars reframe marriage as a solemn, consensual, consultative, and mutually respectful partnership. Third, it reconstructs nafkah, nusyūz, ṭalāq, and domestic labor as negotiated and accountable responsibilities rather than unilateral entitlements. Fourth, these principles support a Humanistic Islamic Family Model that conceptually addresses Generation Z’s concerns about financial risk, unequal roles, personal autonomy, and mental well-being. The study’s novelty lies in integrating Fiqh al-Usrah with documented indicators of marital anxiety and translating the synthesis into a structured conceptual model. Because the study is literature-based, the model is a normative-conceptual framework rather than evidence of practical effectiveness; empirical testing is therefore required.