Mutʿa marriage

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mutʿa marriage ( Arabic نكاح المتعة, DMG nikāḥ al-mutʿa "marriage of enjoyment") or Sighe marriage ( Persian صیغه, ṣīġeh "form"), German also time marriage , is a time-limited marriage that is considered permissible by twelve Shiite Muslims ( Mubāh ) and is concluded for a period of half an hour to 99 years. The majority of the other Islamic groups reject this form of marriage (see also Islamic marriage ).

Definition of mutʿa

Under (nikāḥ al-) mutʿa one understands, according to the dictionary of Hans Wehr , the temporary marriage or the "pleasure marriage, which is only concluded for a short time exclusively for the purpose of sexual enjoyment". The Twelve Shiites advocate the mutʿa; By contrast, the majority of them reject Sunnis , Zaidis , Ismailis , Alawis and Druze .

From a formal point of view, according to the Twelve Shiite doctrine, a man and an unmarried honorable (ʿafīfa) woman can enter into a mutʿa through an irrevocable (lāzim) contract. This contract does not require any witnesses and does not have to be concluded before a qadi . However, precise information is required about the wages to be paid to the woman (ağr / mahr) and the period (ağal), which may be at least half an hour and a maximum of 99 years and after its expiry, which takes place without any divorce formulas being used Extension is possible. If both parties want an extension, a new contract must be concluded after a waiting period (ʿidda), which lasts two menstrual periods or 45 days. However, the waiting period also applies to entering into mutʿa marriages with other partners. This corresponds to the ʿidda of a slave, although slavery was largely abolished in Islam from the 19th century. For an "ordinary (permanent) marriage" (nikāḥ), according to Koran Sura 2: 234, an ʿidda of 4 months and 10 days applies.

Also, a mut nichta does not oblige the man - in contrast to a permanent marriage - to grant the woman maintenance and housing. In addition, there is no possibility for the contractual partners to inherit each other in the event of the death of a partner.

Sunni legal literature differentiates between two types of mutʿa marriages: the general and previously described mutʿat an-nisāʾ and the pleasure marriage for pilgrimage (mutʿat al-ḥağğ). This differentiation is based on a hadith in which it says: “There were two mutʿa marriages at the time of the Messenger of God”. (“Mutʿatāni kānatā ʿalā ʿahd rasūl allāh”). The mutʿat al-ḥağğ is said to have taken place during the lifetime of the founder of the religion, Mohammed, between the small pilgrimage (ʿumra) and the hajj (ḥağğ) for desecration (iḥrām) and is therefore differentiated, especially among the Sunnis, in the historical course of the mutʿat an- nisāʾ and sometimes even accepted, especially by the Hanbalites . This means that it also represents less potential for conflict between Sunnis and Shia Twelve than the mutʿat an-nisāʾ.

Origins of the inner-Islamic controversy about the mutʿa

According to Ignaz Goldziher (1850–1921), the mutʿa represents “the most drastic legal issue between Sunni and Shiite Islam”.

The exact origins of the mutʿa are unclear, but it is presumably a legal institution that emerged from late ancient Arabia in connection with the ancient Arab tribal society and was adopted into Islam. For example, there is a passage in the “Book of Songs” (kitāb alaġānī) by Abū l-Faraǧ al-Iṣfahānī (d. 967), in which it says “mattiʿūnī bihā l-laila”. The historian Caetani even ascribed the marriage of Salma bint ʿAmr and Hāschim ibn ʿAbd Manāf (died around 510, great-grandfather of Mohammed and ancestor of the Hashimite clan ) mutʿa character.

The origin of the difference of opinion between Sunnis and Shiites, on the other hand, lies in the interpretation of Sura 4 ( an-Nisā ' "The Women"), verse 24 - according to Nöldeke's Medinan chronology :

“And (forbidden to you) the honorable (marriage) women (al-muḥṣanāt mina n-nisāʾ), except what you have (in wives as slaves). (This is) prescribed to you by God. What goes beyond this is allowed to you, (namely) that you, as honorable (married) men, do not seek fornication with your wealth (to procure other women). When you have enjoyed some of them (in conjugal intercourse), then give them their wages as a compulsory portion! But it is not a sin for you if, after the compulsory portion has been determined, you come to a mutual agreement (beyond that). God knows and is wise. "

The passage in italics in the quote, which is called “fa-mā stamtaʿtum bīhī minhunna fa-ātūhunna uğūrahunna farīḍatan” in Arabic, forms the Koranic justification of the mutʿa. It is disputed whether after “istamtaʿtum” (“enjoyed”) there was another section of text, namely “ilā ağal musammā” (“for a certain time”). In Shiite works these words are added, but in Sunni circles they are considered interpolation. Because this additional passage would allow men to use their assets to get other women - in addition to permanent wives - if they give them their wages after the enjoyment. The text section can also be found in the Koran codices (muṣḥaf) of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd and Ubaiy ibn Kaʿb , as well as in the Koran exegesis (Tafsīr) of Abū Ǧaʿfar aṭ-Ṭabarī . Also Abd Allah ibn Abbas , the eminent in the early Islamic period authority of the Koran exegesis, this reading is to how many other Sahaba be followed. His position on the mutʿa was almost famous among contemporaries and even afterwards, as he declared it permitted , despite the prohibition by ʿUmar ibn al-Ḫaṭṭāb . For the Shiites, Umar's ban is to a certain extent an “unlawful innovation” (bidʿa), while for the Sunnis it is a confirmation of a ban on mutʿa already expressed by Muḥammad. According to tradition, various cases of women who are said to have become pregnant through mutʿa marriages are considered the reason for the ban on vonUmar.

It is consequently usually the aim of Shiite argumentation to refute the Sunni claim of a ban by the Prophet Mohammed, because the reports on the ban by ʿUmar alone are of no importance in the Shiite milieu, since ʿUmar is not considered a religious authority for them. The Sunnis' frequently formulated accusation that the mutʿa should be equated with fornication (zināʾ) would then automatically be invalidated, since the prophet would certainly not have released zināʾ. Conversely, the Sunni side tries to prove that Mohammed himself forbade the mutʿa and that there is a case of abrogation (nasḫ) because of the earlier permission for this practice .

There are numerous aḫbār (compare Achbārīya ) in connection with Muhammad's prohibition , which are contradictory. According to a narrator group, the prophet forbade mutʿa in principle. According to another group of narrators, however, the Prophet forbade the mutʿa only to a limited extent, i.e. on certain occasions, such as the conquest of Mecca (fatḥ), the farewell pilgrimage (ḥiǧǧat al-wadāʿ) or during a campaign for a certain period of time, often of three days is. However, they ensure that numerous doctrines have emerged about the muta and that it has always been a much-discussed topic within the confessional.

Further development of the controversy over the muta

The “scholar of the umma” (ḥabr al-umma) Ibn ʿAbbas, who, as his nickname laqab suggests, is respected by Shiites and Sunnis as a religious authority, was, as mentioned above, an ardent advocate of the mutʿa. Likewise, many other companions of the prophets (ṣaḥāba) or those who know them (tābiʿūn) are also considered supporters of the mutʿa. The Sunni side tries again and again to explain or appease this fact. In the case of Ibn ʿAbbas, for example, an ḫabar from Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā at-Tirmiḏī is often used, which says that Ibn ʿAbbas converted to the opposite view, i.e. to the prohibition of mutʿa, shortly before his death.

But despite their general rejection by the group, which later emerged as Sunnis in the face of the Shia and the theological tendency of the Muʿtazila , the mutʿa was the subject of concessions as early as the early Islamic period. For example, Ash-Shāfiʿī , who is considered the founder of Islamic legal theory, is said to have declared a marriage to be valid even if it was based on the "silent" intention (niyāʾ), which was not formulated in the contract, only exercised for a certain period of time to become. The Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mūn , already known for his pro-alid policies, advocated the mutʿa and emphatically allowed it to the Muslims, which can be seen as a sign of the influence of the Imamite legal scholars ( faqih ) .

Conversely, however, the Shiite tradition also knows prominent opponents of muthna, despite the majority support. The fifth and sixth Imam, i.e. Muḥammad al-Bāqir and Jafar as-Sādiq , are said to have been considered staunch opponents of the mutʿa. It is reported about Muḥammad al-Bāqir, for example, that when asked whether he would agree if the daughters of his family entered into mutʿa relationships, he unwillingly remained silent. With the tradition of disapproval of the mutʿa by the imams, at least with regard to the female members of the Prophet's family (fāṭimiyāt), a dubious reputation of the mutʿa within the Shiite tradition was consolidated, so that families of the middle and upper classes have since avoided it to let their daughters enter into mutʿa relationships.

In addition, many attempts were made to circumvent the conditions of the mutʿa, such as the ʿidda, by means of legal skirmishes (ḥiyal) , so that the mutʿa was generally suspected of legalized prostitution and in some cases actually took on such a role. It is therefore not surprising that the accusation that mutʿa is to be equated with zināʾ or prostitution, especially since the Ottoman polemic against the Safavids , has been and is frequently formulated by the Sunni side.

The controversy over the mutʿa in the 20th century

A fear that was first formulated by the Baghdad- born Sunni scholar Ibrāhīm Faṣīḥ al-Ḥaidarī also played an important role in the 20th century . According to him, the mutʿa is particularly attractive to the “superficially Islamized Bedouins ”, which explains why numerous former Sunni tribes joined the Shia in Iraq from the 18th century onwards.

The influential thinker of the reformist Islam Rašid Riḍā in his magazine al-Manār also made the Shiite mullāhs responsible for the spread of the Shia in Iraq, who convey the advantages of the Twelve Shiite law primarily using the mutʿa and thus instrumentalize the desires of the tribal chiefs. These allegations were followed by fierce verbal arguments from Sunni and Shiite scholars.

The social status also explains why the Lebanese Shiites during the civil war (1975–90) were more likely to have mutʿa marriages than in pre-war times . The economic situation in the country prevented many marriageable men and women from having regular marriages. The then leading Lebanese Shiite cleric (al-muršid ar-rūḥī) Muḥammad Ḥusain Faḍl Allāh (died 2010) also appeared as a propagandist for the mutʿa. Stephan Rosiny even explains the popularity of Hezbollah among Lebanese youth through the mutʿa , because the mutʿa marriage is particularly popular with the under 30s.

This addresses a second important point in the discourse about the mutʿa: the fear of Sunni ʿUlamā ' that the youth will “drift away” to a “Shia with a more positive attitude towards sexual enjoyment”. Especially in the second half of the 20th century, when the Islamic youth are increasingly confronted with Western sexual ideas, it seems to be essential for numerous Sunni scholars to explain their position against mutʿa. These scholars are mostly close to the anti-Shia Wahhābīya or Salafism .

Conversely, however, there were also numerous works by Sunni thinkers who tried to defend the mut stehena and are related to the trend in the history of ideas of Pan-Islamism , which tries to overcome the turmoil of Muslims by emphasizing the commonalities within Islam, or in the light of initiatives of rapprochement (taqrīb) of the Islamic denominations are to be read. The Egyptian ʿAbbās Maḥmūd al-ʿAqqad (died 1964) is considered to be the first Sunni author of the present day . He tried to praise the muta as a godly alternative to the “free love of the West” and through it to prove the “superiority of Islamic laws over Western concepts of marriage” (compare Islamic marriage ). Iranian Shiite religious scholars close to the state made similar statements after the Islamic revolution in 1979 .

The Tafsīr scholar Muhammad Ali Sabuni (born 1930) dedicated his own treatise to the mutʿa with the title Mauqif aš-šarīʿa al-ġarrāʾ min nikāḥ al-mutʿa , in which he joins the arguments of previous Sunni scholars against the mutʿa on many points and hardly brings forth new thoughts. Stylistically, this treatise is characterized by the fact that Sabuni continuously defames the Shiites with numerous polemical expressions and even puts them on a level with the mušrikūn ( polytheists , henotheists ).

Nikāḥ al-misyār

In this context, the concept of the "marriage of the traveler" (nikāḥ al-misyār) , which was redesigned by the Sunnis in the 1990s and subsequently much discussed , must be mentioned, as it emerged as a counter-concept to the popular mutʿa of the Shiites. The Saudi ʿālim Fahad al-Ġanīm is considered to be the “inventor” , whereby the nikāḥ al-misyār probably refers to a type of “morning marriage” (aḍ-ḍaḥwīya) already known in the Nağd region , in which the husband is only his wife Visited in the morning (as opposed to a visiting marriage ). This form of marriage is unknown in traditional Islamic law . However, it is now supported by important Sunni authorities, such as the former Sheikh al-Azhar Muḥammad Sayyid Ṭanṭāwī (died 2010) or Yusuf al-Qaradawi (born 1926), who is in his most influential work "The Permitted and the Forbidden in Islam" (al-ḥalāl wal-ḥarām fi l-islām) positioned as a staunch opponent of the mutʿa.

The meaning of mutʿa in the contemporary Iranian state

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, this is officially referred to as "interrupted marriage" ( Persian نکاح منقطع nikāḥ-i munqaṭiʿ ) referred to mutʿa part of the local Shiite legal system, which makes it legal in this country. In Germany, however, it is not covered by the scope of protection of Art. 6 GG ; It also violates public policy in Austria .

According to Grand Ayatollah Ali as-Sistani , she is the only possibility for a Muslim to marry a non-Muslim from the “people of the book” ( ahl al-kitāb : Christian, Jewish, possibly Zoroastrian ), since a permanent marriage in the sense of a “mandatory Precautionary measure "is to be rejected. Other Ayatollahs, such as Grand Ayatollah al-Hakim, declare permanent marriage with women to be permitted by the "People of the Book".

According to religious authorities (marāǧaʿ) , the time span of a mutʿa can be between 1 hour and 99 years, whereby intercourse with prostitutes or "affairs" are not excluded. In Shiite areas, many prostitutes work illegally under the guise of temporary marriage , because Shiite law provides for a waiting period (ʿiddah) of around 3 months by consensus .

Temporary marriage can be performed in secret, and there is no limit to the number of temporary marriage wives. The restriction to four wives only applies to open-ended marriages. The man also does not have to inform his first wife if he is in a permanent marriage.

literature

  • Francesco Castro: Materiali e ricerche sul Nikāḥ al-Mutʿa. Rome 1974 (Italian).
  • Dietrich von Denffer : Mutʿa - marriage or prostitution? Contribution to the study of šīʿitic Islam. In the journal of the German Oriental Society. Volume 128, 1978, pp. 299-325 ( download page ).
  • Werner Ende : Temporary marriage (mutʿa) in the contemporary intra-Islamic discussion. In: Stefan Reichmuth (Ed.): The world of Islam. New Series, Volume 20, No. 1, Brill, Leiden 1980, pp. 1–43 ( PDF: 4.2 MB, 44 pages on uni-freiburg.de ).
  • Shahla Haeri: Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Iran. IB Tauris, London 1989 (English).
  • IKA Howard: Mutʿa Marriage reconsidered in the Context of Formal Procedures. In: Journal of Semitic Studies. Volume 20, 1975, pp. 82-92 (English).
  • Sachiko Murata: Temporary Marriage in Islamic Law. In: Al-Serat. Volume 13, No. 1, without year, without pages (English translation from Persian; download page ).
  • Yusuf al-Qaradawi : What is permitted and prohibited in Islam. SKD Bavaria, Munich 2003, pp. 263-266.
  • Stephan Rosiny: Lebanon: Sexuality in the Discourse of Shiite Islamists. In: inamo - Information Project Near and Middle East. Volume 19, 1999, pp. 9–13 ( PDF: 2.9 MB, 6 pages on rosoricon.de ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )).

Web links

Wiktionary: Mut'a marriage  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Shiite hadith for temporary marriage:

Sunni hadith on temporary marriage:

Shiite fatwas for temporary marriage:

Sunni fatwa on temporary marriage:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ End, p. 4.
  2. ↑ End, p. 5.
  3. ↑ End, pp. 6–7.
  4. ↑ End, pp. 5–6.
  5. ↑ End, p. 37.
  6. ↑ End, pp. 10-11.
  7. ↑ End, pp. 28-30.
  8. ↑ End, p. 27 ff.
  1. ↑ Heffening, pp. 755-758.
  2. ↑ Heffening, pp. 755-758 (2.).
  3. ↑ Heffening, p. 757.
  4. ↑ Heffening, pp. 755-758 (3.).
  5. ↑ Heffening, pp. 755-758 (4.).
  6. ↑ Heffening, pp. 757-758.
  • Other documents
  1. ↑ The expression ṣīġeh ("form") goes back to the formal nature of the underlying contract; other names: nikah tamattu', nikah muwaqqat, nikah munqaṭi' wherein nikah by zawāğ can be replaced; compare Nelson Müller: Mauqif aš-šarīʿa al-ġarrāʾ min nikāḥ al-mutʿa. Muhammad ʿAlī aṣ-Ṣābūnīs contribution to the intra-Islamic discussion about temporary marriage. Student thesis, Grin 2015, ISBN 978-3-668-11096-0 , p. ?? ( Reading sample in the Google book search).
  2. ↑ Hans Wehr: Arabic dictionary for the written language of the present . 5th edition Wiesbaden 1985, p. 1183 f.
  3. ↑ Arthur Gribetz: Strange Bedfollows: Mutʿat al-nisāʾ and Mutʿat al-ḥajj. A Study Based on Sunnī and Shīʿī Sources of Tafsīr, Ḥadīth and Fiqh . Berlin 1994, p. 1
  4. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher : Lectures on Islam. 2nd Edition. Heidelberg 1925, p. 229.
  5. ↑ Leone Caetani : Annali dell` Islam. Volume 1. Milan 1905, p. 111 (Italian).
  6. ↑ Rudi Paret : The Koran. 2nd Edition. Stuttgart 1982, p. 62.
  7. ↑ Rudi Paret: The Koran. Commentary and Concordance. 2nd Edition. Stuttgart 1977, p. 93.
  8. ^ William Montgomery Watt : Muhammad at Medina. Oxford 1956, pp. 278-279 and 395 (English).
  9. ↑ Arthur Gribetz: Strange Bedfollows: Mutʿat al-nisāʾ and Mutʿat al-ḥajj. A Study Based on Sunnī and Shīʿī Sources of Tafsīr, Ḥadīth and Fiqh. Berlin 1994, pp. 6-105 (English).
  10. ^ Edward Granville Browne : A year amongst the Persians . 3rd ed. London 1950, p. 506
  11. ^ Stephan Rosiny: Lebanon. Sexuality in the Discourse of Shiite Islamists . In: inamo. Volume 19, 1999, p. 11 ff.
  12. ↑ ʿAbbās Maḥmūd Al-ʿAqqad: Al-falsafa al-qurʾānīya . Cairo 1947, pp. 73-75
  13. ↑ Janet Afary: Sexual politics in modern Iran . Cambridge 2009, p. 265 ff.
  14. ↑ Khalid Sindawi: Temporary Marriage in Sunni and Shi'ite Islam: A Comparative Study. Wiesbaden 2013, p. 86 (English).
  15. ↑ Sindawi, 88-92; Yusuf al-Qaradawi (translated from: Ahamd von Denffer): What is permitted and prohibited in Islam . SKD Bavaria, Munich 1989, pp. 162-163.
  16. ↑ Civil Code ( Persian قانون مدنی Qānūn-i madanī ), Art. 1075 ( Persian ; English ; German: Bergmann , Iran p. 123).
  17. ↑ Shahla Haeri: Law of desire: temporary marriage in Shiʿi Iran. Revised edition. Syracuse University Press, New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-8156-3381-5 (English; excerpt in Google book search).
    The same: Motʿa. In: Encyclopædia Iranica . July 20, 2005 (English).
  18. ↑ VG Berlin , judgment of February 16, 2009 - 24 A 273.08 , Rn. 21st
  19. ↑ ECLI : AT: VWGH : 2016: RA2016010025.L00.1. October 11, 2016, accessed June 17, 2019.
  20. ↑ Grand Ayatollah Ali as-Sistani : Fiqh for Muslims in the West. ( Memento of May 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Njaf.org. Imam Ali Foundation, London (German).
  21. ^ A b Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sayid al-Hakim: Questions & Answers: Marriage (29). ( Memento of July 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: English.alhakeem.com. (English; as of July 10, 2009).
  22. ^ Regulations of Grand Ayatollah Ali as-Sistani : Iddah of Divorce. In: Najaf.org. Imam Ali Foundation, London, accessed June 17, 2019.