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Temporary Marriage in Islam (Part VIII) Some Frequently Asked Questions on Mut'a After reading the earlier parts of this discussion, some people
corresponded with me asked me some hypothetical questions, and
also some good questions.

I present their questions in the following
format:

Q1: Can Someone Contract Mut'a Marriage for 1 hour?
I would say theoretically yes! Much in the same way that it is
possible for some one to marry a woman permanently and then divorce
her in one hour or even less.

Logically, since the possibility
of this action does not invalidate the regular marriage, therefore,
it should not be applied in the case of Mut'a either!

Q2: What could be the difference between temporary marriage and
prostitution?
In the previous sections, we explained the difference between
the Mut'a and the long-term marriage (conventional), and one can
see that there is not much differences between them.

Also as I
mentioned, one may marry permanently and then divorces his wife
after one day.

So what will be the difference?
Moreover, Allah (SWT) did not consider it prostitution when He
revealed the verse, but you do!? All Muslims agree that the Prophet
(PBUH&HF) has legislated Mut'a at some point, and we as Muslims
believe that the Prophet does not speak from his own desires (La
Yantiqu Anil Hawa), so God has permitted it at some point of time.

This very fact differentiates between temporary marriage and adultery,
because God and His Prophet do NOT legitimize adultery.

No prophet
of God ever did that.

A simple answer for your question is that one is legal and the
other one is illegal.

Let me give you an example:
Suppose a foreigner who may be very experienced in driving car
back home, when going to another country he may need to apply
for a driver license to be able to drive.

Now if he drives without
driver license, then what is the difference between him and a
person who drives with license but may not be as experienced as
the former? The answer simply is that the act of the former is
illegal while the latter is legal.

The partners may have sex in the three cases of prostitution,
temporary marriage, and permanent marriage.

Quran declares the
first one illegal but has made the latter two legal.

The other
difference, of course, is that the prostitute has another contract
one hour later, but in both temporary and permanent marriage it
is the duty of woman to wait for a couple of months before entering
another contract.

As I mentioned according to ALL of the Shia
scholars the Iddah for the Mut'a is two menstrual
cycles (or at least 45 days if the woman is of menstruating age
but for some reason does not menstruate).

This would provide less
than 8 customers a year for a prostitute!!! I think any prostitution
agency would go bankrupt in the first year if it wants to follow
the regulations of Mut'a.

And there are many more differences
between prostitution and temporary marriage.

May Allah guide those
who unknowingly ridicule His religion and His Prophet.

Q3: Would someone give the hand of his own daughter in temporary
marriage?
I would say yes! Other than because they already do in a normal
marriage, there are good reasons to do that in temporary marriage.

Let's say a father has a daughter who if not married will commit
the sin of fornication, but no one has come forward to ask her
hand in long term marriage - whatever the reasons maybe.

Would
he give her to some known pious person who ask in temporary (if
it is proved to be the Sunnah of the Prophet), or would he risk
her committing fornication.

I am sure many can think of other
circumstances.

This does not even address the issue from the man's
perspective - students in foreign countries who do NOT wish to
marry permanently from People of the Book (Ahlul Kitab); the possibility
of turning the foreign wife to a Muslim and Da'wa (call to Islam)
to her family, etc.

Do you think Christian parents
mind? I think not!
Even about Muslim countries I should say: Although Islam intends
to revolve the culture of people, as a result of tendencies and
ignorance in many countries dominated by Muslims, the culture
affected the Islamic teachings, while it is supposed to be the
other way around.

One should be able to discriminate between the
true teachings of a divine religion like Islam, and a culture.

About marriage in general, many Muslim families still have major
traditional and cultural problems in marrying their
daughters, for all kinds of seemingly stupid reasons.

Yet, we
do not blame the religion for such old tribal mentality and the
shortcomings of the followers of Islam.

Such feelings are all as a result of our cruel cultural traditions
and not the true sense of normal feeling and pure instinct.

Is
trying to safeguard the boys and girls by putting laws to a relationship
of pleasure a corruption? What is the standard with which we determine what is corruption and
what is not? Shouldn't we only depend on the proven legal Islamic
ruling? If that is the case, then we have already proven that
temporary marriage is authorized and should not be prevented.

My feeling is that the average Muslims today are more tolerant
of friends and family whom they know or have heard that they have
committed fornication; but less tolerant on accepting that the
idea of Temporary Marriage could solve many social problems and
prevent the majority of adultery in many communities, if it were
allowed and promoted as it was the case before the rule of Umar.

Q4: Does any brother accept that her sister contracts Mut'a marriage?
This question is fairly similar to the previous one.

Is the standard
what brother accepts or rejects? Isn't it first satisfaction of
Almighty God? Or may be the religion of God should submit to the
desires of brother and his jealousy.

Also why would a brother in many cases allow himself to do things
which he prevents his sister from doing? Since when did our desires
become the standards of what is wrong?
Sex is a natural desire that Allah created within the human nature.

What difference does it make if a husband had pleasure with someone's
sister in a temporary or a permanent marriage that is followed
with a fast divorce? By such standard, permanent marriage is even
more wicked because it is having continuous pleasure with the
sister.

Why do we suppose that the husband is having pleasure and the
wife is not? Why don't we accept that the right of pleasure is
for both of them, as it is in reality? Why don't we accept that
temporary marriage is not just a physical relationship, but it
involves love, emotions, and sensational feelings even if it is
for one month?
I guess what we should really avoid is to distort Islam based
on the darkness of our complications and our unjust traditional
problems.

Q5: Why can't we use the permanent marriage for the purpose of
familiarization between husband and wife?
Permanent marriage can not be used for familiarization period
because:

1.
After the contract of permanent marriage woman can not divorce
her husband if she finds that her man is not so great! Thus in
the case that man likes his wife, but his wife does not like him
very much, the divorce will not happen.

In other words, the proposal
of using the first few months of permanent marriage as familiarization)
is only good for men!!! In contrary, temporary marriage will end
after its period, and BOTH man and woman can decide again (to
convert it to a permanent one or not).

However, as I mentioned before, under some circumstances, a Muslim
scholar/Judge can divorce her, but this would be a risky way for
woman since the Judge's decision might be different than her wishes
and certainly a period of familiarization does not worth for all
these headaches.

2.
In permanent marriage contract, one can not make the condition
that marriage is to be unconsummated.

In other words, sex is an
indispensable part of permanent marriage.

Then how can a woman
enter into permanent marriage contract for familiarization only?
On the other hand, such necessities do not exist in temporary
marriage.

3.
Although one can divorce her permanent wife, this is considered
the most hateful permitted act in Islam.

The reason is that the
couple have some moral obligations/expectations that they intend
to live together for good.

If a man divorces his wife after a
couple of month being with her and after removing her virginity,
by saying that he did not like her too much in this period of
familiarization(!!) then it will be a very bitter experience for
that Muslim woman.

Remember if a man does this shameful act, no
body can punish him because he has just used his divorce right.

But this action is morally detestable.

This in fact shows that
permanent marriage is not a good choice for familiarization period.

Remember that your proposal should be practical, and not imaginary
based on the ideal case where the unfamiliar couple have full
trust to each other before the marriage.

In contrary, Temporary marriage is risk free.

First of all, both
man and woman are aware that they will separate after the specified
period and so there will be no surprises.

Non of them has any
moral obligation to extend the marriage beyond that period nor
do s/he has any such expectation from the other side.

Also, as
mentioned, they can set a condition that marriage is not to be
consummated.

Q6: If the husband leaves the town after the expiration of Mut'a
marriage, is it incumbent upon him to later inquire whether the
union was fruitful, and take the custody of his child?
When a man goes to a journey and temporarily marries, it is incumbent
upon him to provide some information to that woman about his original
place and how he can be reached, so that in the case of pregnancy,
the father is informed, and he should provide all the financial
means for his child.

This goes for permanent marriage too.

If
a man divorces his wife, and immediately leaves the town for another
place, it is incumbent upon him to provide information to his
ex-wife as how he can be reached in the case of pregnancy.

In
both cases, the child is the legal heir of his father and his
mother.

Q7: Can a man engage in temporary marriage even if he already
has four temporary/permanent wives?
Yes.

The case of the temporarily married girl in this regard (as
well as other issues such as waiting period) is similar to the
case of the bondwomen in Islam.

All Muslims do agree that one
can marry an unlimited number of slave-girls.

Islam did NOT limit
it as it did with the permanent marriage.

However, it is discouraged
to go further than 4 temporary wives.

The reason that Islam strictly limited the number of permanent
wives into four, is that in permanent marriage there are obligations
which do not exist in the other types of marriage, and these obligations
can not be fulfilled if one goes more than four permanent marriages.

For instance, the permanent couples are necessary to be sexually
active, and man should sleep with his wife once each four nights;
so how can he go further than four permanent wives? Also necessity
of support of wife financially is no easy! These obligations do
not apply to temporary marriage, and thus one may go further than
that, yet it is not recommended at all.

As I quoted some traditions
earlier, it is also discouraged for a person who has permanent
wife available, to engage in temporary marriage (even one) because
it may cause complications for his family.

Q8: Is there any witness required for Mut'a, or the persons can
say the sentences of marriage alone?
The above question has the same answer for both permanent marriage
and temporary marriage.

In both cases, religiously speaking, there
is no witness necessary.

They themselves can pronounce the sentences
of marriage.

However if the girl is virgin, then the boy needs
the permission of her guardian beforehand.

But her guardian does
not have to be present as witness when they are pronouncing the
marriage sentences.

Please note that I am only talking about the religious law.

However,
if the couple want to register their marriage by the secular government
(which is not religiously necessary), they may have to do many
other things, including the witness (if the secular government
requires).

However those who choose to temporarily marry in western countries,
do not need to register since they know they will separate from
each other soon.

This is a temporary relation only, without many
legal responsibilities that a permanent marriage bears (like the
necessity financial support, inheritance and so on).

In the view
of a western government, such relationship is nothing worse than
boyfriend-girlfriend relationship which is commonly practiced
in the West without any barrier.

However, religiously speaking,
the couple who would like to temporarily marry, are required to
satisfy all the religious obligations when entering such contract
and when separating from each other.

Also, for the same reason, in the western countries, there is
no need for witness because no body cares about the relation of
a boy and a girl.

However in Muslim countries where people may
accuse the boy and the girl of committing adultery, it might be
necessary to have some witnesses just for the protection of the
couple.

But this is not a condition for the validation of marriage.

Also in the case of temporary marriage, the couple do not have
to announce the marriage publicly, specially when the public opinion
is not in favor of Mut'a.

Public announcement is not necessary
for the permanent marriage either, though it is encouraged.

Q9: The sentences of Mut'a as I have seen, are in Arabic, is it
necessary to say them in Arabic?
Again, the above question has the same answer for both permanent
marriage and temporary marriage.

Scholars do not have the same
idea as to whether the marriage sentences (for both types) are
necessary to be in Arabic or not.

The majority of scholars require
it to be in Arabic.

Others state that it should be in Arabic if
one of them knows Arabic, otherwise they can pronounce its equivalent
in their mother language.

Please note that the marriage sentences
are very short.

So learning its Arabic equivalent is not so difficult.

Also it is not necessary that both boy and girl know it.

If the
boy knows it, it is enough.

The girl can authorize the boy to
pronounce the marriage sentence in her behalf, much the same as
a third party usually does.

In the case that neither boy nor girl
know the Arabic sentences of marriage, and if there exists a third
party who will do it in Arabic, they can authorize him to pronounce
it on their behalves.

Q10: In your opinion (which I do not consider as a Fatwa) how
is it to follow some of the things that one feels logical in Shia
Fiqh while keeping his Sunni faith? Is it Haraam?
My personal answer is that you can.

In fact, I know some Sunni
brothers who believe that although they know more about the specific
school that they have been raised with, they do not bound themselves
to that specific school.

If some thing is proven to us by Quran
and authentic Hadith, then they follow it.

For instance, I personally
know a few of knowledgeable Hanafi friends who believe they can
join Duhr and Asr prayer like what the followers of Ahlul-Bayt
do.

When I asked them why, they said we found in Sahih al-Bukhari
some traditions which state that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF)
joint Duhr and Asr prayer while he was not in travel and while
he did not have any emergency.

So since there exists at least
one Islamic school which allows joining the prayers (referring
to Shia Imamiyyah), and at the same time there exists authentic
traditions in support of it, then we feel free to do that even
though we are raised as Hanafi.

Below I have included the Fatwa of Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot, the
head of al-Azhar University which clearly removes the barrier
between the Sunni and the Shia, and allows the Sunnis to follow
the Fatwa of any of them.

I just give a part of his Fatwa here:
Head Office of al-Azhar University:
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
Text of the Verdict (Fatwa) Issued by His Excellency
Shaikh al-Akbar Mahmood Shaltoot,
Head of the al-Azhar University,
on Permissibility of Following al-Shia al-Imamiyyah School of Thought His Excellency was asked:

Some believe that, for a Muslim to have religiously correct worship
and dealing, it is necessary to follow one of the four known schools
of thought, whereas, al-Shia al-Imamiyyah school of
thought is not one of them nor al-Shia al-Zaidiyah.

Do your Excellency agree with this opinion, and prohibit following
al-Shia al-Imamiyyah al-Ithna Ashariyyah school of
thought, for example?
His Excellency replied:

1) Islam does not require a Muslim to follow a particular madh'hab
(school of thought).

Rather, we say: every Muslim has the right
to follow one of the schools of thought which has been correctly
narrated and its verdicts have been compiled in its books.

And,
everyone who is following such madhahib [schools of thought] can
transfer to another school, and there shall be no crime on him
for doing so.

2) The Ja'fari school of thought, which is also known as al-Shia
al- Imamiyyah al-Ithna Ashariyyah (i.
e.
, The Twelver Imami
Shi'ites) is a school of thought that is religiously correct to
follow in worship as are other Sunni schools of thought.

Muslims must know this, and ought to refrain from unjust prejudice
to any particular school of thought, since the religion of Allah
and His Divine Law (Shari'a) was never restricted to a particular
school of thought.

Their jurists (Mujtahidoon) are accepted by
Almighty Allah, and it is permissible to the non-Mujtahid
to follow them and to accord with their teaching whether in worship
(Ibaadat) or transactions (Mu'aamilaat).

Signed,
Mahmood Shaltoot.

The above Fatwa was announced on July 6, 1959 from the Head of
al-Azhar University, and was subsequently published in many publications
in the middle east which include, but are not limited to:

1.
Al-Sha'ab newspaper (Egypt), issue of July 7, 1959.

2.
Al-Kifah newspaper (Lebanon), issue of July 8, 1959.