Salaam,
Bis Milah Hir rah Man Nir rahim..
Such marraiges are Haraam and forbidden in Islam..
Question:
Dear Sheikh, As-Salamu `Alaykum. I have a friend, who is interested
in having information on Mut`ah marriage. Could you please explain
for me the Islamic ruling on such marriage? Jazakum Allah
khayran.
Answer:
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be
upon His Messenger.
Dear sister in Islam, we commend your keenness on getting your self
well-acquainted with Islam and its teachings, and we implore Allah
Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His
Sake.
As regards the Islamic ruling on mut`ah marriage, we'd like to cite
for you the words of the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf
Al-Qaradawi, in his will known book, The Lawful and Prohibited in
Islam. He writes:
Marriage in Islam is a strong binding contract based on the
intention of both partners to live together permanently in order to
attain, as individuals, the benefit of repose, affection, and mercy
mentioned in the Qur'an, as well as to attain the social goal of
the reproduction and perpetuation of the human species. Almighty
Allah says: "And Allah has made for our spouses of your own nature,
and from your spouses has made for you sons and grandsons...."
(An-Nahl: 72)
Now, mut`ah marriage (marriage for the
sake of sexual gratification) is a marriage that is contracted by
the two parties for a specified period of time in exchange for a
specified sum of money.
While the Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) permitted mut`ah marriage during journeys and military
campaigns before the Islamic legislative process was made
complete, he later forbade it and made
it Haram on a permanent basis.
It was initially permitted because the Muslims were passing through
what might be called a period of transition from Jahiliyyah (the
pre-Islamic period) to Islam. Fornication was widespread among the
Arabs before the advent of Islam. After Islam, when Muslims were
required to go on military expeditions, they were under great
pressure as a result of being away from their wives for long
periods of time. Some of the believers were strong in faith, but
others were weak. The weak in faith feared that they would be
tempted to commit adultery, which is a major sin, while the staunch
in faith, on the contrary, were ready to castrate themselves. Ibn
Mas`ud narrates: "We were on an expedition with the Messenger of
Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and did not have our wives
with us, so we asked Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon
him) 'Should we not castrate ourselves?' (The reason for this
request was the desire to preserve their chastity, which was in
danger of being affected by their unmet needs.) He forbade us from
doing so but permitted us to contract marriage with a woman up to a
specified date, giving her a garment as a dowry (Mahr)." (Reported
by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Thus, mut`ah marriage provided a solution to the dilemma in which
both the weak and the strong found themselves. It was also a step
toward the final legalization of the complete marital life in which
the objectives of permanence, chastity, reproduction, love, and
mercy as well as the widening of the circle of relationships
through marriage ties were to be realized.
We may recall that the Qur'an adopted a gradual course in
prohibiting wine and usury, as these two evils were widespread and
deeply rooted in the pre-Islamic society. In the same manner, the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) adopted a gradual course
in the matter of sex. First, he permitted mut`ah marriage as an
alternative to zina (fornication and adultery), and at the same
time coming closer to the permanent marriage relationship. He then
prohibited it absolutely, as all and many other Companions
reported. Muslim reports this in his Sahih (Authentic Collection of
Hadiths), mentioning that Al-Juhani was with the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) at the conquest of Makkah and that the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave some Muslims
permission to contract mut`ah marriages. Al-Juhani said: "Before
leaving Makkah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon
him) prohibited it." In another version: "Allah has made it Haram
until the Day of Resurrection."
The question arises: Is mut`ah marriage absolutely haram, like
marriage to one's own mother or daughter, or is it like the
prohibition concerning the eating of pork or dead meat, which
becomes permissible in case of dire necessity, the necessity in
this case being the fear of committing zina?
The majority of the Companions hold the view that after the
completion of the Islamic legislation, mut`ah marriage was made
absolutely haram. However, Ibn `Abbas
(may Allah be pleased with him) holds a different opinion,
permitting it in case of dire necessity. A person asked him
about marrying women on a haram basis, and he permitted him to do
so. A servant of his then asked, "Is
this not under hard conditions, when women are few and the like?"
and he replied, "Yes." (Reported by Al-Bukhari) Later, when Ibn
`Abbas saw that people had become lax and were engaging in haram
marriages without necessity, he withdrew his ruling and retracted
his previous opinion. (Zad Al-Ma`ad, vol. 4, p. 7)
