Temporary Marriage & Its Illegitimacy in Islam

Temporary Marriage & Its Illegitimacy in Islam

In
this short précis, we are focusing on temporary marriage and what
is linked to it of practical wisdom's which have been missed on
many amongst the common people, to an extent that it facilitated
the spread of many false claims about the law of Allah Most High
lying about his Messenger (saws), and hatred to his righteous companions
(r.a.a.).

What
is temporary marriage?

It
is a temporary marriage upon agreement of the two parties. This
temporary marriage was a custom amongst eastern countries, as it
was also practiced by some men at the dawn of Islam on their missions
/ trips.

Abdullah
Ibn 'Abbas (r.a.a.) said: "Temporary marriage was at the beginning
of Islam. A man comes by a town where he has no acquaintances, so
he marries for a fixed time depending on his stay in the town, the
woman looks after his provisions and prepares his food, until the
verse was revealed: "Except to your wives or what your right
hands possess." Ibn 'Abbas explained that any relationship
beyond this is forbidden. [narrated by Tirmizy]

As
temporary marriage was a custom amongst Arabs in the days of ignorance,
it would not have been wise to forbid it except gradually, as is
the manner of Islam in removing pre-Islamic customs which were contrary
to the interests of people.

It
is well established that temporary marriage does not agree with
the interests of people because it causes loss to the offspring,
uses women for fulfilment of the lusts of men, and belittles the
value of a woman whom Allah has honoured. So temporary marriage
was forbidden.

The
evidence of its illegality:

We
will show - God willing - some of the countless evidences in order
to wipe out some of the maligning accusations which the misguided
repeat against Umar Ibnul Khattab (r.a.a.). These people falsely
claim that he was the person who forbade it when he was Caliph.
Their motive for this false claim was but their blind spite for
the companions of the Messenger (saws) who had succored him, supported
him, and assisted him.

Allah
Most High says: "So whatever you enjoy from them, give
them their recompense, this is an obligation." [Qur'an 4:24].
This is the verse relied on by those who support temporary marriage.
They rely on it either in ignorance or in order to fool others,
giving a superficial meaning to the verse without referring to the
interpretation of it, and without availing the correct interpretation
to the general public. The following is the interpretation of it:

Imam
Qurtuby says in his commentary on this verse, the payment in the
context is the dowry, it has been called recompense because it is
a fee for the enjoyment. This is a support for dowry being a recompense.
Alhasan, Mujahid, and others said: The meaning relates to what you
have 'enjoyed through your union with women in proper marriage,
so "give them their recompense" that is, their dowries.

Ibn
Khuwayz Mindad said: There is no support and it is not permissible
to use the verse as a permission for temporary marriage as the Messenger
of Allah (saws) has warned against and has forbidden temporary marriage
as Allah Most High said: "So marry them with the permission
of their families." It is natural for the marriage to take
place with the permission of the parents, this is a proper marriage
which has a trustee and two witnesses, temporary marriage is not
like that. 'A`isha said: "It has been forbidden in the Qur'an
in the words of the Most High: "And those who preserve their
private parts except with their spouses or what their right hands
posses, then they would have no blame." [Qur'an 23:5]. Temporary
marriage is not regarded as a proper marriage, and the spouse does
not fall into the category of what the right hand possesses.

Ibn
Katheer says in his commentary on this verse: as you enjoy them,
give them their dowries as the Most High said: "give women
their money as a gift" [Qur'an 4:4]. He has interpreted the
generality of this verse to include temporary marriage saying: There
is no doubt that it was permitted at the dawn of Islam, and became
forbidden afterwards.

Ibn
Jawzy says in regards to this verse: some commentators have said:
what is meant by this verse is the temporary marriage, and then
it was superseded with what has been reported from the Prophet (saws)
when he forbade temporary marriage. This interpretation has no basis.
The Prophet (saws) permitted it then forbade it with his own words,
so his later prohibition supersedes the permissibility. As for the
verse, it does not touch on temporary marriage. It only relates
to enjoyment through proper marriage."

There
is a plethora of statements of the Messenger (saws) which forbid
temporary marriage, some of the Hadith include:

According
to Sabra Bin Ma'had AlJuhany who said: I was with my cousin when
we passed by a woman who liked my youth and a robe which my companion
had. So she offered temporary marriage with the robe as the dowry.
I married her and spent the night with her. In the next morning,
I went to the mosque and heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying:
'O people, I had permitted you temporary marriage before, whoever
of you has any part in it currently must part with her, and do not
take back anything which you may have given them, as Allah Exalted
and Majestic has forbidden it until the day of resurrection.' "
[narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah, Nasa`i, and Darimi]

Ali
Bin Abi Taleb (r.a.a.) said that the Messenger of Allah (saws) had
forbidden temporary marriage on the day of Khaybar and had forbidden
the eating of the meat of domestic camels. [narrated by bukhary,
Muslim, Tirmizy, Ibn Majah, Nasa`i, Tahawy, Shafi'i, Bayhaqy, and
Hazimy]

According
to Sufyan Althawry according to Isma'il Bin Umayya according to
Alzahry according to Alhassan Bin Mohammad according to Ali (r.a.a.)
who said to a man: "You are a straying person, the Messenger
of Allah (saws) has forbidden temporary marriage and the meat of
domestic camels on the day of Khaybar." [Narrated by Muslim
and Bayhaqy]

According
to Misdad Bin Masarhad according to 'AbdulWareth according to Isma'il
Bin Ummaya according to Alzahry who said: "We were with 'Umar
Bin 'Abdul'Aziz and we recalled temporary marriage, a man called
Rabee' Bin Sabra said to him: 'I testify that according to my father
that it happened that the Messenger of Allah (saws) had forbidden
it on the farewell pilgrimage.' " [narrated by Abu Dawood and
Imam Ahmad]

According
to Abu Huraira (r.a.a.), the Messenger of Allah (saws) had forbidden
or abolished temporary marriage, its marriage and its divorce, its
waiting period, and its inheritance. [narrated by DarQutny, Ishaq
Bin Rahwiya, and Ibn Habban]

Abu
Bakr Bin Hafs reported according to Ibn 'Umar who said: "When
Ali was given the Caliphate, he thanked Allah Most High and praised
Him and said: 'O people, the Messenger of Allah (saws) had permitted
temporary marriage three times then forbade it. I swear by Allah,
ready to fulfil my oath, that if I find any person who engages in
temporary marriage without having ratified this with a proper marriage,
I will have him lashed 100 stripes unless he can bring two witnesses
to prove that the Messenger (saws) had permitted it after forbidding
it.' " [Ibn Majah]

Imam
Muslim has narrated that according to Mohammad Bin 'Abdullah Bin
Numayr who said: "My father had narrated to us according to
'Ubaidullah according to Ibn shahab according to Alhassan and 'Abdullah
the sons of Mohammad Bin 'Ali according to their father according
to 'Ali (r.a.a.) that he heard Ibn 'Abbas (r.a.a.) being lenient
towards temporary marriage, so he said, 'wait Ibn 'Abbas, the Messenger
of Allah (saws) had forbidden it on the day of Khaybar when he also
prohibited the meat of domestic camels.' "

This
evidences illustrates the correctness of the consensus about its
prohibition. Particularly as 'Umar Ibnul Khattab (r.a.a.) had mentioned
its prohibition from the pulpit and stated its punishment, and reminded
the congregation that the Messenger of Allah (saws) had prohibited
it and strongly admonished against it, this was at the presence
of both the migrants and the supporters, and none disputed it with
him or differed with him, knowing well their care and attention
to make sure that the truth is always revealed, and any error is
corrected as they had done with respect to other issues. Furthermore,
the prohibition has been reported according to a number of companions
other than 'Umar.

Its
prohibition has been reported according to 'Ali Bin Abi Taleb, 'Abdullah
Bin 'Umar, 'Abdullah Bin Mas'ud, 'Abdullah Bin Alzubayr, 'Abdullah
Bin 'Abbas who when reminded of its prohibition also supported the
prohibition when he understood the references of the others. This
is also the understanding of the followers, the scholars, and all
the Imams. They were all unanimous on this issue.

To
cap the research, below are the opinions of the four Imams; these
will leave no excuse for any.

Hanafi
Mazhab: stated in Fathul Qadir that the temporary marriage is
void, and defined this marriage as a man saying to a woman I will
enjoy you so many times for a certain sum of money. He also said
in AlHashia after dealing with the two different types of temporary
marriage, that it is a contract with a woman which is formed with
the intention of not providing security or fosterage for a child,
instead it is for a fixed period, and the marriage ends with this
period, or a non fixed period based on the person's stay with the
wife until he decides to leave, and then the contract is ended.

Shafi'i
Mazhab: temporary marriage is a marriage for a period, so if
it was requested of a guardian to marry his ward for a month, this
would be a void marriage.

Maliki
Mazhab: temporary marriage is one for a term, as if saying to
the guardian allow me to marry your ward for a month for such a
fee, if they agree, the marriage would be void and both spouses
would be liable to a penalty. This marriage is ended without a divorce,
regardless of whether it is before consummation or after.

Hanbali
Mazhab: Temporary marriage is a marriage for a term whether
fixed or not, there is no difference whether it is labelled as a
marriage or not, where the man says to the woman allow me to enjoy
you, she says I give you myself for enjoyment, without a guardian
or two witnesses. The temporary marriage raises two issues. One
for a fixed term having a guardian and two witnesses, or one called
enjoyment not having a guardian or witnesses. In both cases it is
void.

After
the opinions of the four Mazahib, we report the opinions of scholars
from other Mazahib below.

Ibn
Hazm said, "temporary marriage is not permitted; this is a
fixed marriage which was permitted at the time of the Messenger
(saws), then Allah superseded it through His Messenger (saws) until
the day of resurrection."

Imam
Shawkany: "We worship in accordance with what we learnt from
the Messenger (saws), and we have ascertained the authenticity of
his eternal prohibition of temporary marriage. The fact that some
companions were not aware of this does not negate the large number
of companions who were aware and who have acted upon the prohibition
and proclaimed it."

Qady
'Ayyad said: "The scholars reached consensus that temporary
marriage was a marriage for a term with no inheritance, its separation
at the expiry of the term without dispute, the consensus after this
was that it was prohibited according to all the scholars with the
exception of the rejectors. Ibn 'Abbas allowed it until he became
aware of the prohibition and then forbade it and said: "If
temporary marriage takes place now, it is void regardless of whether
it had been consummated or not."

Imam
Nawawy said: "The truth of the matter is that it was permitted
and prohibited on two occasions. It was permitted before Khaybar,
then prohibited, then permitted on the day of liberation, the day
of Awtas, then prohibited forever after three days of the event."

Imam
Bayhaqi said: "Imam Ja'far Bin Mohammad was asked about temporary
marriage, he said: 'It is adultery.' "

Before
we close this research, we refer to the words of Imam Alfakhr AlRazy
in response to those who claim that 'Umar added the prohibition
of temporary marriage himself. So they declared him as an apostate
and attributed apostasy to all who did not stop him: "all this
is erroneous. All that is left to say is that temporary marriage
was permitted during the time of the Messenger (saws), and I prohibit
it with what has been authenticated with me that the Messenger of
Allah (saws) prohibited it."

In
this manner we see the manner in which Islam treated the issue of
temporary marriage and how it became prohibited forever until the
day of resurrection as has reached us through the true Ahadith.
There is no doubt that contemplation in this brief message will
find in it convincing proof that temporary marriage is prohibited
for those who believe in Allah and are free from blind loyalty.
We supplicate Allah Most High to make us of those who listen to
the words and follow the best standard therein.

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