Iran Minister backs brief marriages to curb illicit sex

[Proud2BeHumble]

06/02/2007 10:07 PM | Agencies


Tehran: Iran's interior minister faced criticism from women activists on Saturday after advocating the practice of temporary marriage as a way to meet the needs of young people in the Islamic state, which bans extramarital sex.

"Is it possible that Islam is indifferent to a 15-year-old youth into whom God has put lust?" newspapers quoted Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who is also a cleric, as telling a religious seminar this week.

Temporary marriage, or sigha, is an agreement between a manand a women to get married for a specified time, even for just afew days. It has long been practised by Shiite Muslims, who are dominant in Iran, even though it is unclear how common it is.


Sunni Muslims say it is illegal and akin to prostitution,but some Shiites scholars say it reflects the reality of human nature and provides for the rights and responsibilities of both the man and the woman.

"Although temporary marriage has always existed in our law, it is considered improper by Iranian culture," Shadi Sadr, an Iranian activist for women rights, told the ISNA news agency.

Pourmohammadi spoke on Thursday in Qom, Iran's religious centre, and his comments were carried mainly by reformist dailies on Saturday. They also published reaction, mostly from opponents of the practice but also from some clerical backers.

"Islam is a comprehensive and complete religion and has a solution for every behaviour and need and temporary marriage is one of its solutions for the needs of the youth," Pourmohammadi said according to the Sharq daily.

"For fulfilling the sexual desires of the youth who do not have the possibility to get married a decision should be taken."

A temporary marriage is easy to arrange. A couple will agree on how long they will get married - it's usually anywhere from a day to months - and on financial matters.

Couples often go to a Shiite cleric for approval of the contract. The practice is believed to have pre-dated Islam among the tribes of the Arabian peninsula.

"A great number of women who agree to have temporary marriage do it because of their problems and financial need," another women activist, Fatemeh Sadeghi, told ISNA.

The Ham Mihan daily quoted a receptionist at a hotel in Tehran as saying it accepted couples with documents showing they were temporarily married and that it had about 100 such guests per week. "Our clients are young men with older women," he said.

Both Sunni and Shiite scholars agree that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) did at certain times allow it. But Sunni scholars say the Prophet later banned it. Most Shi'ites say he didn't.

"In this kind of marriage there is no force, therefore we can not say it is violating women's rights," one Iranian cleric, Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Ghabel, told Sharq.

But a female former parliamentary deputy, Fatemeh Rakei,suggested that entering into a temporary marriage made it difficult for young women to later find permanent husbands and also expressed concern about the future of children from such marriages.

"We should expect violations and repercussions if we do not practically respond to young people's sexual needs," the centrist Kargozaran daily quoted Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi as saying.

Seminary study

Pourmohammadi said Iran should seek to promote the practice with "boldness" and urged seminary scholars to study the matter and come up with ways to "execute God's command in society".

"We should not be afraid of promoting temporary marriages in a nation that is being governed by the rule of God."

Critics condemn 'sigha' as tantamount to prostitution, but clerics argue it is merely a more spiritual way of addressing basic human urges.

Sixty per cent of Iran's population is under 30 years of age and the average age of marriage has risen to 30 for men and 26 for women, according to unofficial estimates.


http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10129516.html

 

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum brother Proud2BeHumble,


The following is the religious opinion [fatwa] published on the website supervized by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid. It's an answer to question no. 20738 [Mut’ah marriage and refutation of those Raafidis who permit it]:

Question:

Could you please tell if there is such a concept as 'temporary marriages'in islam. I would like to know because a friend of mine has read a book by professor Abui Qasim Gourgi and is under the impression that if they are already married it is okay for them to do muta(the name for a temporary marriage according to islamic shariah). His definition for a temporary marriage is that if you like someone it is okay for you to have your nikah read with them for a short period of time. Please could you tell me more about the issue of muta and which schools of thought believe in such an idea (could you support your answer using references from ahadith and quran).


Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

Mut’ah or temporary marriage refers to when a man marries a woman for a specific length of time in return for a particular amount of money.

The basic principle concerning marriage is that it should be ongoing and permanent. Temporary marriage – i.e., mut’ah marriage – was permitted at the beginning of Islam, then it was abrogated and became haraam until the Day of Judgement.

It was narrated from ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade mut’ah marriage and the meat of domestic donkeys at the time of Khaybar. According to another report, he forbade mut’ah marriage at the time of Khaybar and he forbade the meat of tame donkeys.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3979; Muslim, 1407.

It was narrated from al-Rabee’ ibn Sabrah al-Juhani that his father told him that he was with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who said, “O people, I used to allow you to engage in mut’ah marriages, but now Allaah has forbidden that until the Day of Resurrection, so whoever has any wives in a mut’ah marriage, he should let her go and do not take anything of the (money) you have given them.”

Narrated by Muslim, 1406.

Allaah has made marriage one of His signs which calls us to think and ponder. He has created love and compassion between the spouses, and has made the wife a source of tranquility for the husband. He encouraged us to have children and decreed that a woman should wait out the ‘iddah period and may inherit. None of that exists in this haraam form of marriage.

A woman who is married in a mut’ah marriage, according to the Raafidis – i.e. the Shi’ah, who are the ones who say that this is permissible – is neither a wife nor a concubine. But Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts, from illegal sexual acts)

Except from their wives or (the slaves) that their right hands possess, for then, they are free from blame;

But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors”

[al-Mu’minoon 23:5-7]

The Raafidis quote invalid evidence to support their argument that mut’ah is permissible. For example:

(a) They quote the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“…so with those of whom you have enjoyed sexual relations, give them their Mahr as prescribed…”

[al-Nisa’ 4:24]

They say: this verse indicates that mut’ah is permissible, and the word ‘their mahr (ujoorahunna – lit. their dues or their wages)’ is evidence that what is meant by the phrase ‘you have enjoyed sexual relations’ is mut’ah.

The refutation of this is the fact that prior to this Allaah mentions the women whom a man is forbidden to marry, then he mentions what is permissible for him, and He commands the man to give to the woman he marries her mahr.

The joy of marriage is expressed here by the word enjoyment (‘of whom you have enjoyed sexual relations’). A similar instance occurs in the Sunnah, in the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah according to which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Woman is like a bent rib, if you try to straighten her you will break her. If you want to enjoy her, then enjoy her while she still has some crookedness in her.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4889; Muslim, 1468.

The mahr is referred to here as ajr (lit. dues or wages), but this does not refer to the money which is paid to the woman with whom he engages in mut’ah in the contract of mut’ah. The mahr is referred to as ajr elsewhere in the Book of Allaah, where Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O Prophet (Muhammad)! Verily, We have made lawful to you your wives, to whom you have paid their Mahr (bridal‑money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage)…”

[al-Ahzaab 33:50]

Thus it becomes clear that there is no evidence in this verse to suggest that mut’ah is permissible.

Even if we were to say for argument’s sake that this verse indicates that mut’ah is permitted, we would still say that it is abrogated by the reports in the saheeh Sunnah which prove that mut’ah is forbidden until the Day of Resurrection.

(b) The reports that some of the Sahaabah regarded it as being permissible, especially Ibn ‘Abbaas.

The refutation here is the fact that the Raafidis are following their own whims and desires, because they regard the companions of the Prophet (may Allaah be pleased with them) as kaafirs, then you see them quoting their actions as permissible in this instance and in others.

With regard to those who said that it is permissible, they are among those who did not hear that it had been forbidden. The Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) – including ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Zubayr – refuted Ibn ‘Abbaas’s view that mut’ah was permitted.

It was narrated from ‘Ali that he heard Ibn ‘Abbaas permitting mut’ah marriage, and he said, “Wait a minute, O Ibn ‘Abbaas, for the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade it on the day of Khaybar and (he also forbade) the meat of tame donkeys.”

Narrated by Muslim, 1407.

For more information see Questions no. 1373, 2377, 6595.

And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A

Source: http://islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=20738&ln=eng


Best regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum

 

[Proud2BeHumble]

:salam2:

Jazakallah Khair Brother Bluegazer for sharing the information.

Wassalam

 

[Optimist]

Muta'a is fornication legalised. It is not something Islam condone. Those "imams" calling for it as a "solution" should -publicly- offer their daughters & sisters first for it or else just shut up.

What is the evidence it is permissable ?