Part 24

The fourth type in the above hadith is a form of public prostitution. A woman would have a clear sign on her house indicating that she welcomes any man who wishes to have her for a brief period of time, in exchange for an agreed pay. Unfortunately, that kind of multiple “marriage” or “profession” is still practiced in most of the so-called “civilized” nations of our time.

There are other forms of marriage that were practiced during Jahiliyyah or the early years of Islam, but were subsequently prohibited. Among them are the following.

The mur‘ah (enjoyment) marriage is a temporary marriage. Its duration is specified at the time that the contract is executed. At the end of the term, the two spouses leave each other without divorce. Furthermore, the two partners do not inherit from each other.

This type of marriage was common during Jahiliyyah. Its purpose was to merely fulfill a physical need for the man. Allah’s Messenger (4%) permitted it for some time, and finally prohibiting it permanently.

Abii Hurayrah (4%) reported that Allah’s Messenger (@) said:

The ‘ulam@ differ as to whether the mut‘ah marriage was prohibited during the fight of Khaybar or the Conquest of Makkah. The latter position appears to be stronger, and is adopted by most of the ‘ulama.

Sabrah Bin Ma‘bid (4s) reported that at the time of the Conquest of Makkah, Allah’s Messenger (#8) said:

<O people! I had previously permitted you to have women by way of mut‘ah. But indeed, Allah has now prohibited that until the Day of Resurrection, Thus, anyone who has any such women should let them go, and do not take any of what you gave them. *

Sabrah (4) also reported:

“On the year of the Conquest, Allah’s Messenger (@) permitted us to enjoy women (with mufah) as we were entering Makkah. But he later prohibited it for us — even before we left Makkah.” *

Ibn ‘Abbas (t%) did not know that Allah’s Messenger (8) prohibited the mut‘ah marriage, so ‘Ali (2) reproached him and said to him:

1 Recorded by Ibn Hibban, ad-Daraqu tni, and al-Bayhaqi. Verified to be hasan by alAlbani (Sahih ul-Jami‘ no. 71022 & as-Sahihah no. 2402).

2 Recorded by Muslim and Ibn Majah.

3 Recorded by Muslim, Ahmad, and al-Bayhaqi.

Quest for Love & Mercy 155 Forbidden Marriages

“Indeed, Allah’s Messenger (8%) prohibited enjoying women (mutah) on the day of Khaybar, and he prohibited eating the ordinary donkeys (contrary to zebras).” |

Ifa man divorces his wife three times, he may not take her back unless she first marries another man 2. If the second husband divorces her, she may then marry the first husband.

The woman must have intercourse with the second husband before she becomes permissible to the first husband (if the second husband willingly divorces her),

Ibn ‘Umar (ti) reported that a case was presented to Allah’s Messenger (8) as follows, “A man divorced his wife three times, Another man then married her, closed the doors, and dropped the curtains (i.e., he had full privacy with her), but divorced her without performing intercourse with her. Would that make her permissible to the first husband?” He (8) replied:

<She does not become permissible for the first (husband) until the second performs intercourse with hers *

Similarly, ‘A’ishah, Anas, and ‘Ubayd Ullah Bin ‘Abbas (a) reported that Rufa‘ah al-Qarzi divorced his wife three times, after which she married ‘Abd ur-Rahman Bin az-Zubayr. But she did not allow him to approach her and came to the Prophet (8) claiming that he was impotent, and she requesting divorce, ‘Abd ur-Rahman refuted this, saying that she actually wanted to go back to her first husband. Allah’s Messenger (i$) then told her that this may not happen unless

Recorded by al-Bukhiri, Muslim, and others.

Recorded by an-Nasa’i, Ahmad, and others. Verified to be authentic by al-Albant (Sahih ul-Jami' no, 7253 & Inwa’ ul-Ghalil no, 1887).

she had intercourse with the second husband. '

In order to overcome this restriction, some people apply a trick to make it possible for the woman to go back to her husband. Another man (called muhill or muhallil) would marry her, and include a condition in the marriage contract that, as soon as he copulates with her, their marriage becomes terminated. This is a form of mutah marriage, because it includes the temporary factor. In addition, it represents a clear defiance to Allah’s commands and instructions, Because of this, it deserved Allah’s curse.

‘A Bin Abr Talib, ‘Abdullah Bin Masiid, and Jabir Bin “Abdillah (a) reported that Allah’s Messenger (@) said:

ca) Joely JleaId il gale

<Allah curses the one who performs iahlil, and the one for whom it is performed. *

‘Uqbah Bin “Amir (2) reported that Allah’s Messenger (#8) said:

(AM) fodly foeed Au! gals ehocall a Sybacell jag pe Yb

Nafi‘ reported that a man said to Ibn “Umar (ts), “Is it permissible for me to marry a woman to make her lawful for her (previous) husband, even though he did not ask me to do it, and I did it without his knowledge.” He replied:

1 Recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others. Review [rwa’ul-Ghalil no. 1997 for the various reports of this hadith.

2. Recorded by Ahmad, an-Nasaii, and others. Verified to be authentic by al-Albant (Inva’ ul-Ghalil no. 1897 & Sahih ul-Jami* no. 3101).

3 Recorded by Ibn Majah, al-Hakim, and al-Bayhaqi. Verified to be hasan by alAlbani (Sahih ul-Jami‘ no. 2596 & Irwa’ ul-Ghalil no. 1897).

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“No! The marriage should only be based on real interest: if you like her you keep her, and if you dislike her you divorce her. We indeed used to consider this (tahlil) as ziné during Allah’s Messenger’s (&) time. And those who do it will continue to be in a state of zina, if his intention was to make her lawful to the other man, even if they stay together for twenty years!” !

Shighdr is a process whereby two men inter-marry each others’ daughters or women under their custody without either one giving a mahr. Nafi‘ (8) explained:

“Shighar is that a man would marry his daughter to another man with the condition that the other man would marry him his daughter. And they would not require any mahr in between them.” ”

Ibn ‘Umar (ts) reported that the Prophet (8%) prohibited shighar marriages * and said:

<No shighdar (is permissible) in Islam *

Even when dowries are specified, this inter-marriage remains as a source of doubt that should be avoided.

Al-A‘raj reported that al-‘Abbas Bin ‘Abdillah Bin ‘Abbas gave his daughter in marriage to ‘Abd ur-Rahman Bin al-Hakam, and ‘Abd ur-Rahman gave his daughter to him in marriage, and they named some mahrs. Yet, Mu‘awiyah (who was the khalifah then) wrote to Marwan Bin al-Hakam commanding him to separate between them and

1 Recorded by al-Hakim, al-Bayhagj, and at-Tabarani. Verified to be authentic by alAlbani (Irwa’ul-Ghalil no. 1898).

Recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others.

Recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others.

Recorded by Muslim and others.

“This is the shighar marriage that Allah’s Messenger (48) prohibited.” /

MARRIAGE WITH THE INTENTION OF DIVORCE

Some men may marry a woman for a specific purpose, intending within themselves to divorce her as soon as that purpose is accomplished. An example of this is a common practice in some Western countries where a foreigner marries a native woman in order to obtain residency in her country, planning to divorce her as soon as he achieves his goal.

If the marriage contract sets a term for this kind of marriage, it becomes a prohibited form of mut'ah marriage. If it does not, the majority of ‘ulama’ consider that this marriage is valid but the man sinful because he deceives the woman by hiding his initial intention from her.

Marrying Non-Muslims GENERAL RULE

Allah (@%) prohibited marriage with the mushriks, males and females:

“yyy saul Getp sitll sal ies

1 Recorded by Ahmad, Abi Dawid, and Ibn Hibban. Verified to be hasan by alAlbani (Ina *ul-Ghalil no. 1896).

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Every non-Muslim is a mushrik. This includes the People of the Scripture (the Jews and Christians) if they worship anyone besides Allah (like Jesus or “Uzayr) or hold other wrong beliefs about Allah (&8).

EXCEPTION TO THE RULE

Allah (8%) made exception to the above rule by permitting Muslim men to marry Jewish and Christian women — with an important condition: they must be chaste, which means that they are not promiscuous and have not previously had illegitimate sexual relationships with men, Allah (88) says:

chaste believing women and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before

WHO “THE PEOPLE OF THE Book” ARE

Some of the companions took the position that the above permission only applied to the “unitarian” People of the Book. They argued in regard to a Trinitarian Christian woman, “What form of shirk is worse than her claim that her Lord is Jesus?” For example, “Ali (48) said: