Mut’ah marriage and ‘urfi marriage
Praise be to Allaah.
It is known that there are two well-known forms of “ ‘urfi marriage”, and he could be asking about three kinds, so we will answer on the assumption that he is asking about all of them.
As for mut’ah marriage, which means marrying for a set time limit agreed upon by both parties, for a specified mahr (dowry), after which the marriage contract is annulled upon expiry of that time period – this is a haraam marriage contract which is not valid at all. With regard to “ ‘urfi marriage” – there are two types of this:
1 – Where the woman is married in secret, without the agreement of her wali (guardian). If that is the case then it is a haraam marriage contract which is not valid, because the agreement of the wali is one of the conditions of the marriage contract being valid.
2 – Marriage with the agreement of the woman and her wali, but without announcing the marriage publicly, or registering it in the shar’i or civil courts, but there are witnesses. If this is the case, then it is a valid marriage from the point of view of having met the necessary conditions, but it goes against the Islamic command to publicize the marriage. Not having the marriage officially documented may lead to the wife losing out on her rights with regard to the dowry and inheritance, and if the marriage leads to children, how will this child be recorded in official documents? How will the woman defend her honour before people?
It should also be noted that some of the fuqaha’ say that publicizing the marriage is one of the conditions of it being valid, which is not far from the truth. They gave as the reason for that the fact that publicizing the marriage demonstrates the difference between marriage and immoral relationships. This is supported by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The difference between what is halaal and what is haraam is beating the daff and raising the voice at weddings.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1088; al-Nasaa’i, 3369; Ibn Maajah, 1896. Classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 1994
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:
There is no doubt that a marriage which is announced publicly is valid, even if it is not witnessed by two witnesses, but if it is concealed and kept secret, this is a matter concerning which there is some debate. If there are witnesses and it is also announced publicly, this is the marriage concerning which there is no dispute that it is valid. If there are no witnesses and it is not announced publicly, then it is invalid according to all scholars. But if there are any scholars who dispute this, they are very few.
Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 3/191
Ibn al-Qayyim said:
The Lawgiver has stipulated four conditions for marriage in addition to the marriage contract, in order for there to be no suspicion of immoral conduct: it should be publicized, there should be a wali (woman’s guardian), the woman should not do the marriage contract herself and it is mustahabb to beat the daff and raise voices (in song) and give a waleemah (wedding feast), because that does away with the means that may lead to immoral actions under the guise of being married.
I’laam al-Muwaqqi’een, 3/113
i.e., if marriage is done in secret, it is possible that if the woman gets pregnant and gives birth, the man may deny this child because there is no proof that this woman is his wife and this child is his child. But if there are witnesses and the marriage is publicized, there is no room for this evil action to take place.
Ruling on Mut’ah (temporary) marriage
Mut’ah marriage means that a man marries a woman – either Muslim or from the people of the Book – and specifies how long the marriage will last, for example five days, or two months, or half a year, or many years. The beginning and end of the marriage are specified, and he pays her a small mahr (dowry), and after the specified time is over, the woman exits the marriage. This kind of marriage was permitted during the year of the Conquest of Makkah for three days, then it was disallowed and prohibited until the Day of Resurrection. This was reported by Muslim (1406).
The wife is the one with whom one stays on a long-term basis, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“… and live with them honourably …” [al-Nisaa’ 4:19], but in the case of mut’ah a man does not live with the woman for long.
The wife is the one who is called a wife in sharee’ah, with whom the relationship is long-lasting. She is mentioned in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“Except from their wives or (the slaves) that their right hands possess, ¾ for then, they are free from blame” [al-Mu’minoon 23:6] – the latter (a slave whom one’s right hand possesses) is not a wife according to sharee’ah, because her stay is limited to a short time.
The wife is the one who inherits from the husband, or from whom the husband inherits, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“In that which your wives leave, your share is a half if they have no child…” [al-Nisaa’ 4:12]. But the woman in a mut’ah marriage does not inherit, because she is not a wife, since she spends such a short time with the man.
On these grounds, Mut’ah marriage is considered to be zinaa (adultery or fornication), even if both parties consent to it, and even if it lasts for a long time, and even if the man pays the woman a mahr. There is nothing that has been reported in sharee’ah that shows that it may be permitted, apart from the brief period when it was allowed during the year of the conquest of Makkah. That was because at that time there were so many people who has newly embraced Islam and there was the fear that they might become apostates, because they had been used to committing zinaa during the Jaahiliyyah. So this kind of marriage was permitted for them for three days, then it was made haraam until the Day of Resurrection, as was narrated by Muslim, 1406.
Temporary Marriage
There is no such thing in Islam as so-called “temporary marriage,” but some people who follow misguided innovations that have been introduced into the religion still believe in the validity of something known as “mut’ah marriage,” which is a form of temporary marriage. However, this type of marriage was abrogated or cancelled out and is not part of Islamic law (translator’s note: it was allowed for a brief period during the very early days of Islam, when society was in transition, but was definitively and for all time abrogated during the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)).
You should beware of such people, and not let your emotions overwhelm you and stop you from following the truth.
And Allaah knows best.
Mut’ah Marriage Forbidden
Praise be to Allaah.
he final ruling with regard to mut’ah marriage is that it is forbidden according to Islamic sharee’ah. This prohibition is the final ruling of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with regard to this matter.
Imaam Muslim said in his Saheeh:
Baab Nikaah al-Mut’ah wa bayaan annahu ubeeha thumma nusikha thumma ubeeha thumma nusikha wastaqarra tahreemuhu ilaa Yawn il-Qiyaamah (Chapter on Mut’ah marriage and the statement that it was permitted, then abrogated, then permitted, then abrogated, and this prohibition remains in effect until the Day of Resurrection).
From Iyaas ibn Salamah from his father, who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave sanction for contracting temporary marriage (mut’ah) for three nights in the year of Awtaas [after the Battle of Humayn in 8 AH], then he forbade it.” (2499)
From al-Rabee’ ibn Sabrah from his father: on the day of the Conquest (of Makkah) the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade temporary marriage (mut’ah) with women. (Saheeh Muslim, 2506)
And also from him (may Allaah be pleased with him): that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade mut’ah and said: “It is forbidden from this day of yours until the Day of Resurrection, and whoever has given anything [as a dowry] should not take it back.” (Saheeh Muslim, 2509).
From ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib: that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade temporary marriage to women and the flesh of donkeys at the time of Khaybar. This was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who said: the hadeeth of ‘Ali is hasan saheeh and this is what was followed by the scholars among the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and others… this is also the view of al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mubaarak, al-Shaafa’i, Ahmad and Ishaaq. Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 1040.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid