Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalaamu alaikum.

Dear Sheikh Burhan,

Could you please clarify and elaborate if it is allowed to marry through the following ways

Marriage by MUT'A . What is the Islamic rules and teaching on this style of marriage.

Marriage by URFI. What is the Islamic rules and teaching on this style of marriage.

Marriage by MASYAAL, just started in KSA. What is the Islamic rules and teaching on this style of marriage.

Jazakumullah kulla alkheir.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Urifi misyar muta marriage

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Ref: Muta ‘marriage’

‘Muta’ was a term used for a form of ‘temporary’ marriage prevalent in the Days of Ignorance before Islam, where a man would ‘temporarily’ contract a woman for a fixed period, fulfil his lust with her, and divorce her at the end of the agreed period without any responsibility towards the woman whatsoever. This mutually agreed period would be at an agreed and negotiated price between the man and the woman, for a fixed period of time which could be for a couple of hours, or days, or weeks, etc. as negotiated.

The society in the ‘Days of Ignorance’ before Islam had tried to give a legal ‘veil’ to the abomination of ‘zina’ and prostitution by various means, and the ‘muta’ was one of such veils! Islam removed all such veils from the abomination of ‘zina’ and declared that the only legal way for a man and woman to enjoy conjugal relationships was for the man and woman to be legally wedded to each other in the ‘nikaah’ contract, where the man would shoulder the responsibility of a proper marriage. One should note here that it was not Islam who started or initiated this evil concept of ‘muta’, but it was a system prevailent in the ‘days of ignorance’ before Islam. Allah and His Messenger (saws) completely and absolutely abolished and forbade this evil concept of ‘muta’ for those who sincerely believed in Allah and the Last Day.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 5.527 Narrated by Ali bin Abi Talib

On the day of Khaibar, Allah's Messenger (saws) forbade the Mut'a (i.e. temporary marriage), and the eating of donkey-meat.

If any fair-minded person just looks at the system of ‘muta’, one would conclude that it is nothing but a manifestation of the abomination of prostitution and nothing else! Which righteous parent or guardian would allow his daughter or sister to temporarily have sex with a man in exchange for a material reward?

Prostitution is described as an act where a woman ‘temporarily’ engages in sexual activity with a man in return for a negotiated fee. If one asks oneself what is the difference between prostitution and ‘muta’, one would find it extremely difficult to differentiate the two terms!

The concept of ‘muta’ was and is a shallow attempt of what we recognize today as prostitution; and absolutely all forms of ‘zina’ and prostitution are forbidden in the deen of Truth called Al-Islam. The believers who sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day must recognize and abstain from this and all forms of indecency and ‘fahisha’, and fulfill their needs only through the legal channel and sacred concept of Islamic ‘nikaah’.

Allah is our witness, anyone who performs ‘muta’ will be guilty of the grave sin and evil abomination of ‘zina’ in the sight of Allah Subhanah on the Inevitable Day of Resurrection!

Ref: ‘urfi’ marriage

The literal meaning of an ‘urfi’ marriage is when all the conditions of a lawful ‘nikaah’ between a couple are scrupulously honored, but the ‘nikaah’ itself is not registered with a government agency or the law of the land.

Registering one’s marriage with a government agency or the law of the land is definitely not a legal requirement in Shariah; but one is well within their rights to do so as it might help in protecting their lawful rights.

Regardless of whether one chooses to register their marriage with a government agency or not, provided all the obligatory conditions of a ‘nikaah’ were fulfilled, the marriage itself will remain legal, valid, and lawful in the Sight of Shariah Law and of Allah Subhanah.

Ref: ‘Misyaar’ marriage

The truth is that there is absolutely no mention of ‘misyaar’ marriage in either the Quran, the authentic and established Sunnah, or even in any book of Islamic Fiqh or Jurisprudence.

‘Misyaar’ is a term culturally used amongst the Arabs for a marriage whereby a woman who wishes to become the 2^nd, or 3^rd, or 4^th wife of the man, but as the man fears that he may not be able to afford her financially or accord her equal time, the woman of her own free will relinquishes her right that her husband spend on her or spend equal time with her like he does to his other wife/wives. For some reason, a marriage where the woman of her own free will relinquishes her right that her husband spend on her or spend equal time with her is culturally recognized as a ‘misyaar’ marriage.

Even in a normal marriage, a woman is well within her rights if she, of her own free will and without any coercion wishes to relinquish her rights; but for some reason such a marriage where a woman relinquishes her legal and lawful rights is culturally known as a ‘misyaar’ marriage; although we reiterate again that ‘misyaar’ is neither an Islamic term nor is there any mention of such a term in any of the books of Fiqh or Islamic Law.

Some ignorant people assume ‘misyaar’ marriage is a license to perform a ‘secret’ marriage but that is an absolutely false notion and categorically discouraged by the Messenger of Allah (saws) who guided the believers to publicly announce their marriage in the society they live in by holding a ‘walima’ or wedding feast.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan