The traditions in Ṣaḥīḥ and Musnad books are too many to be mentioned in this (concise) book. Therefore, Muslim scholars and exegetes agree on the idea that mut‘ah was decreed in the early period of Islam and in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (ṣ).

The traditions in Ṣaḥīḥ and Musnad books are too many to be mentioned in this (concise) book. Therefore, Muslim scholars and exegetes agree on the idea that mut‘ah was decreed in the early period of Islam and in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (ṣ).[1][1]

The question which is worth considering here is: Has the purport of the verse on mut‘ah been abrogated [mansūkh]?

Perhaps, those who have doubt about the principle of legitimacy of mut‘ah in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah are very few. This indicates this law has not been abrogated.

The traditions and history of Islam is replete with evidence that till the caliphate of the second caliph this law had been prevalent among Muslims but the second caliph prohibited it out of expediency.

In his Ṣaḥīḥ, Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj narrates that Ibn al-‘Abbās and Ibn az-Zubayr opposed the prohibition of mut‘ah on women and mut‘ah on Ḥajj. Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh said:

“.لهما نعد فلم عُمر عنهما نهانا ثمّ الله رسول مع هما فعّلنا”

“In the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, we used to perform both the two (mut‘ahs). Then, ‘Umar prohibited us from doing them and since then we have not practiced them.”[2][2]

In his book of exegesis, Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūṭī narrates on the authority of ‘Abd ar-Razzāq, Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Jarīr, and they narrate the decree when he was asked, “Has the verse on mut‘ah been abrogated?” He replied, “No,” and ‘Alī (‘a) said:

“.شقّي إلاّ زنىٰ ما المتعة عن نهىٰ عمر أنّ لولا”

“Had ‘Umar not prohibited mut‘ah, no one would have ever committed adultery and fornication [zinā] except a wretched person.”[3][3]

Also, ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad Qawshchī says: “‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb announced from the pulpit:

أحرّمهنّ و عنهنّ أنهي أنا الله رسول عهد علىٰ كنّ ثلاث النّاس أيّها”

“.العمل خير على حيّّ و الحجّ متعة و النّساء متعة هي و عليهنّ و أعاقب

O people! Three things were prevalent in the time of the Messenger of Allah and now I prohibit them, and punish those who practice them. They are mut‘ah on women, mut‘ah on Ḥajj and saying “ḥayya ‘alā khayri’l-‘amal” [come to the best of deeds] (in adhān).[4][4]

It is worth noticing that there are so many traditions in this regard that they cannot be covered in this (concise) book.[5][5]

It must be stated that mut‘ah is one of the types of marriage because marriage is categorized into two kinds: permanent and temporary. A woman who concludes a temporary marriage is ruled as a man’s wife and he as her husband. Naturally, such a marriage is referred to in the Qur’anic verses on marriage.

Since the Qur’an states,

﴾ أَيْمَٰنُهُمْ مَلَكَتْ مَا أَوْ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ عَلَىٰ إِلاَّ ٭ حَٰفِظُونَ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ هُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ ﴿

“(Certainly, the faithful have attained salvation—those) who guard their private parts except from their spouses or their slave women,”[6][6]

a woman who has entered a temporary marriage contract with the stated conditions is considered among the individuals referred to by ﴾ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ عَلَىٰ إِلاَّ ﴿ “except for their spouses” and is not excluded from it. Accordingly, the woman who is married to a man by making a mut‘ah contract becomes his spouse and wife and she becomes one of those who are included in the term “azwājihim”.

And if according to the stated verse (in Sūrah al-Mu’minūn) both groups of women (spouses and slave women) are allowed to have marital relations, the woman who has entered a temporary marriage contract is included in the first group (spouses).

It is surprising that some regard the stated verse in Sūrah al-Mu’minūn as the abrogator [nāsikh] of the verse on mut‘ah in Sūrah an-Nisā’. This is while we all know that the revelation of the abrogator verse [āyat an-nāsikh] should be after the abrogated verse [āyat al-mansūkh], but in the mentioned case, it is otherwise. Sūrah al-Mu’minūn, which some assume to be the “abrogator”, is a Makkī sūrah (that is, it was revealed in the Holy City of Mecca prior to the Holy Prophet’s emigration [hijrah] to Medina) and Sūrah an-Nisā’, which contains the verse on mut‘ah is a Madanī sūrah (that is, it was revealed in the city of Medina after the hijrah of the Prophet (ṣ)).

Now, how could a verse in a Makkī sūrah abrogate another verse in a Madanī sūrah?

The other vivid proof that refutes the claim of abrogation of the verse on mut‘ah in the lifetime of the Prophet (ṣ) are the many traditions that deny the abrogation of that verse in the time of the Messenger of Allah (ṣ). The tradition narrated and explained by Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūṭī in Ad-Durr al-Manthūr is an example.[7][7]

In conclusion, it should be noted that the Imāms from the Ahl al-Bayt who, according to the Ḥadīth ath-Thaqalayn, are the source of guidance of the ummah and the intimate peer of the Qur’an, emphasize the legitimacy of mut‘ah marriage and reject the idea of abrogation.[8][8]

The fact that Islam is capable of solving the problems of mankind in every epoch confirms the legitimacy of such a marriage with the conditions stipulated earlier; for, one of the ways of saving the youth from the quagmires of corruption and perversion today is this fixed-time marriage which has to be performed within the framework of certain conditions