Hadiths regarding the legality of Nikah Mut'ah
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There are several recorded oral traditions (Arabic: Hadith) from the Islamic prophet Muhammad used either to prove or to disprove the legality of Nikah Mut'ah, an Islamic marriage form. This article lists those hadith and provides the classical and modern Shi'a and Sunni interpretation provided by Islamic scholars using the Science of hadith on each of those hadith. For a more general disscusion regarding the present day legality of Nikah Mut'ah, see Muslim controversies related to Nikah Mut'ah.
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[edit] Introduction
According to classical Muslim Scholars, Nikah Mut'ah is one of two marriage forms that is authorised in the Qur'an.[1] The other form is called simply Nikah, hence Nikah Mut'ah is popularly shortened to simply "Mut'ah".
Sunni Muslims deem Nikah Mut'ah to have been abrogated (Arabic: Naskh) by some teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's that were not part of the Quran, while Shi'a Muslims disagree. Hence, according to Shi'a jurisprudence, it is a presently legal marriage form.
Shi'a view divorce procedures (Arabic: talaq) as a last conflict resolution step in permanent marriages (Arabic: Nikah) before ending it. Shi'a do not engage in any divorce procedures (Arabic: talaq) at the end of the pre-determined period of Nikah Mut'ah, they just annul the marriage, since there is no conflict to resolve.
When engaging in a Nikah, a permanent contract for marriage is signed, marrying until divorce (Arabic: talaq) or death takes place, resembling the western concept of marriage. On the other hand, upon entering a Nikah Mut'ah, a pree-set date of expiration is set to the marriage contract, and the marriage is automatically annulled at the arrival of the date, without any conflict resolution step.
Muslims believe that the Qur'an is complemented by the way and examples set by Muhammad, this is called "(his) way" (Arabic: Sunnah). Initially, much of the Sunnah was transmitted between people orally. Although some collection are claimed to be early written reports of the Sunnah, most of it remained in oral traditions until 800 AD. This produced chained of narrators that spanned several generations and also several traditions that became considered as fabricated. Since the names of the narrators were included in the oral traditions themeselves, the Scholars used arrived to different methods to determine which ones to trust and regard authentic. This became known as the Science of hadith.
[edit] Overview
The present validity of Nikah Mut'ah is a heavily controversial issue among Shi'a and Sunnis. While Sunni scholars are prone to view that the hadith literature support the notion that Nikah Mut'ah is presently illegal, Shi'a scholars are prone to arrive to the opposite conclusion. This is a list of the most prominent of those hadith, and the views of the scholars of those individual hadith.
The Islamic term Mut'ah (lit. "joy") have several connotations:
- Nikah Mut'ah — The second Qur'anic Marriage form.
- Mut'ah of Hajj — relaxation between a Umrah and a Hajj.
Those two terms should not be confused with each other, as they are separate things and the Islamic Term "Mut'ah" can denote one or both of the Islamic Term Mut'ah of Hajj and the Islamic Term Nikah Mut'ah.
Umar ibn al-Khattab ruled the Muslim community between 634 to 644. While Shi'a view him as an unpricipaled usurper, Sunni view him as a Rightly Guided Caliph. As narrated in the Hadith of Umar's speech of forbidding Mut'ah, Umar banned "Mut'ah" during his time as Caliph.
While Shi'a are prone to interpret that Umar was the first one to historically ban Nikah Mut'ah and Mut'ah of Hajj, Sunnis view that Nikah Mut'ah had already been abrogated by Muhammad, and Umar was merely re-enforcing Muhammad's practice, as well as ban Mut'ah of Hajj.
[edit] Categories of hadith
[edit] Initial practice
There is a consensus among Shi'a and Sunni scholars that Nikah Mut'ah was lawful during Muhammad's era. However, there is a small disagreement on how long these periods were, how frequent, or if they were legal all the time. In either case, all scholars agree based on the hadith that Muhammad even told people to engage in the temporary marriage, something Shi'a is notable, since Muhammad never told people to drink alcohol, thus arguing that the marriage form cannot be deemed immoral.
- Al-Qurtubi, a 13th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes:[2]
[edit] Prohibition by Muhammad
There is a total of seven hadith that state that Nikah Mut'a was abrogated. This seven hadith each narrate their own occasion, thus resulting in seven different times when it is supposed to have been abrogated.
Most Sunni scholars disregard most of this occasions, and argue that it was forbidden in three, two or at only one time. Yet other Sunni scholars argue that they are all fabricated and that Umar was the first one to forbid it, but that he was entitled to do so, since Muhammad had ordered the Muslims to follow the Sunnah of the Rashidun. Shi'a take the stance of those Sunni scholars, but do not accept that Muhammad had ordered to follow the Sunnah of the Rashidun, referring to the Hadith of the two weighty things.
[edit] Prohibition by Umar
[edit] Use after Muhammad
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ibn Kathir, Sahih Muslim and more
- ^ Tafsir al-Qurtubi Volume 5 p. 32, Surah an-Nisa
