A guard conducts the rape the night before execution. You can read about the movement in iran in this article from fox news. The adherents of sunni islam have been vocal in criticizing the shia practice of temporary marriage called muttah. Shia islam allows a man and woman to marry for a fixed period of time, ranging from an hour to a century. It allows muslim men to have temporary marriages with nonmuslim.
This presentation introduces the audience to the fascinating world of complex marriage and sex relations behind the veil. Bbc news middle east iran talks up temporary marriages. Iran wont outlaw marriage of under girls, as islamic. An islamic discourse on female sexuality by shahla haeri kjn a cold november day in 1990 the iranian president, hashimi rafsanjani, stunned his huge audience by a speech he delivered as his friday sermon. An increasing number of muslims in britain are reviving the islamic practice of temporary marriage, according to a recent bbc television documentary focusing on the taboo subject. The idea is that rather than having an affair, a man who wants to be sexually involved with. Iran culture anonymous in the west, temporary marriage is, basically, a contractual deal between a man and a woman who decide to be married for an agreed period of time varying from one hour to 99 years. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. In tehran, you can choose a marriage that lasts for three.
Nikah mutah, or temporary marriage, was popular in the ancient islamic world. What are temporary marriages and how are they different from permanent ones. As it clashes with a cultural tradition favouring women being virgins until marriage, sigheh has been unpopular among iranians. Please see part ii for the full arabic text of the tradition. Istamtaa means contracting temporary marriage sahih muslim, english version, v2, chapter dxli titled. This custom is practiced among the shiites of iran. Muta marriage is valid type of marriage in shia jurisprudence. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. But many fewer are aware of its rough equivalent in the sunni world, namely the misyar, or travelers marriage. Surprisingly, many forwardthinking people, including some islamist feminists and other womens rights advocates, believed that sigheh allowed men and women to maintain intimate relationships without fear of violating strict islamic social and moral values. It was the third caliph, umar, who regarded temporary marriage as condoning fornication and declared it banned. Currently, girls in iran may be legally married at although those as young as nine may be married with the permission of their fathers or a court.
According to boston university professor shala haeri, in her book law of desire. Marriage customs vary across the world and across religions. It will examine status of women and their role in pre islamic and islamic iran, focusing on the last thirty years when the veil became for many a symbol of liberation from the shahs corrupted world. Temporary marriage in iran donaldson 1936 the muslim. The woman has to be either muslim or from the people of the book christian or jew. Misyar temporary marriage in sunni islam daniel pipes. The temporary marriage is literally translated as pleasure marriage nikah mutaa and is for a limited amount of time. Mutta marriage or temporary marriage contract in shia islam. The early muslim sources are not consistent on this issue. How to recapture the muslim worlds lost hope the atlantic. The rejected motion had aimed to lift the legal marriage age to 16, and to enable marriage between and 16 only with the approval of a legal guardian.
In iran, temporary marriage, which was originally called sigheh a renewable contract of marriage for a defined duration or muta, arabic term for a temporary marriage. My homeland of great britain has heavily sanctioned iran and iran in turn has responded by making it very difficult for uk passport holders to. The practice of temporary marriage is said to have existed during the lifetime of muhammad, who is believed to have recommended it. A marriage in islam must be between oppositesex partners who are not too closely related to each other. Iranian minister backs temporary marriage to relieve lust. Joys of muslim women by nonie darwish in the muslim faith a muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child, consummating the marriage.
But why are young british muslims adopting the practice now. Footnotes 1 vanity fair, september, 1935, and reproduced in abstract in the readers digest, december, 1935. I was a temporary bride life and style the guardian. Marriage is a sacred relationship designed by god, and involves love and care towards ones spouse 30. Temporary marriage is one of oddest loopholes in islamic system in iran, where people of all classes and degrees of religiosity pride selves on finding loopholes. From the shiite point of view, temporary marriage was practiced before the advent of islam and was accepted. The 82page report, issued by iran s parliamentary research branch, is alarmed at the findings and recommends that the government push for the use of temporary marriages that may last no longer then the tryst itself. It is quite common in iran for older men to marry children, as long as they pay the appropriate brideprice to the girls family. Law of desire is an excellent, scholarly account of the practice of temporary marriage among shiite muslims. Temporary marriage that is permitted in some socalled muslim societies is no more than a thinlyveiled term for prostitution which is strongly condemned by god in the quran. Iran s interior minister, mostafa pourmohammadi, has started promoting temporary marriage as a solution to the countrys social problems.
Javad afshar kohan and vaida thompson, recent trends of marriage in iran, the open family studies journal, 10. A man can also have any number of temporary marriages or sigheh, as they are known. The practice of temporary marriage has long been common in shiite muslim communities, especially in iran. Temporary marriage in shii iran, nika mutah is a pre islamic tradition of. I suggest you to read the book temporary marriage in islamic law written by sachiko murata. In the case of temporary marriages in iran, the concept of marriage is being used as a means for males to get around religious rules of not having sex outside of marriage, something in the case. Temporary pleasure marriages offer unwed muslims a way around the islamic rule against premarital sex. The couple agrees on the time period of the marriage, which in iran. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Temporary marriage is there a loophole for prostitution in islam.
Betwa sharma talks to one young american shiite whos on his 25th i do. Temporary marriage, or sigheh, is one of the oddest and biggest. It is something akin to a vegas marriage for good muslims. It shows, skillfully, how a temporary or contractual marriage provides a practical, realistic solution to the needs of men and women in muslim society. However, islamic clerics in iran never stopped promoting the practice.
Muta marriage also known as nikah almutah is a marriage for a temporary but fixed period with a muslim female by a male muslim, after specifying dowar. The next day, a marriage certificate is issued by a mullah, who sends it to the girls family, along with a box of chocolates as a wedding gift. Perhaps for the first time in the history of islam, in clear, deliberate, and. Sunni and shiite muslims have long had differencesand temporary marriage is among them. Temporary marriage in iran to combat the problem of premarital sex in iran, leaders are reinstituting the practice of muta, or temporary marriage, in accordance with the teachings of muhammad. Because of iran s fraught relationship with the west, getting into the country isnt exactly easy. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. Temporary marriage and the economy of pleasure tehran. Travel to iran hitchhiking, tinder and a 30day marriage. In the islamic republic of iran, sex outside of marriage is a crime, punishable by up to 100 lashes or, in the case of adultery, death by stoning. Temporary wives generally face social ostracism, and their children may face difficulties in accessing public services such as education because if the marriage is unregistered, it may be hard for the mother to prove paternity. And there is no sin for you in what ye do by mutual agreement after the.
In the book of mustadrakalwasa il shia authentic hadith book vol. Read temporary marriage in iran, the muslim world on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Marriages between muslim women and nonmuslim men are not recognisedalong with hereditary rights. From the shia point of view, temporary marriage was already practised before the advent of islam, and then also during the prophets lifetime. The question haunts us in the arab and muslim world. Permanent marriage muta marriage or temporary marriage a shia of the male sex may contract a muta marriage with a woman professing the muslim, christian or jewish religion, or even with a woman who is a fireworshiper. A formal, binding contract verbal or on paper is considered integral to a religiously valid islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. The specifics of temporary marriage remain unclear and enigmatic till date due to which the practise still remains stigmatised among many of the muslims. The shiite institution of muta or sighe temporary marriage is quite well known, being the subject of an 1989 englishlanguage book by shahla haeri, law of desire. The sunni orthodoxy, however, quickly abolished the muta. Muslim men are permitted to choose wives from among fellow believers or from among other people of the book. Roya kashefi of the association of iranian researchers works closely with womens rights activists in iran.
319 1342 96 260 664 1210 1060 265 518 524 1170 425 885 1505 499 927 1543 443 104 593 650 1322 792 454 1154 1350 607 879 1467 455 824 913 1472 231 1219 1373 1 799 359 185 1376 240 243