Ayatollah Makarim Issues Open Letter to Al-Azhar’s Imam on Temporary Marriage

Temporary marriage is not a means to abuse by sensual abusers and homosexuals! For this reason, in the questions we have been asked, we have given a fatwa that temporary marriage is only permitted if it is necessary, for example, when a person is away from his family and fears that if doesn’t use such a jurisprudential rule, falls into the trap of debauchery and sins, or a single person, who despite the urgent need of sexuality, doesn’t have the possibility to get married permanently! On this basis, we do not go wrong if the temporary marriage is called necessity marriage!

Ijtihaad Network reports: Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, in response to a harsh attack of one of the scholars of Al-Azhar university, Dr. Ahmed al-Tayyeb, issued an open letter to the Ahlul-Bayt school on the issue of temporary marriage. The text reads as follows:

In the Name of Allah the most Compassionate the most Merciful
My honored scholarly brother
Al-Salam Alaykum and may you be under the mercy of Allah
I hope that you be in good health and may Allah be your help and supporter in practicing your faith and in serving religion as well as Islamic Umma because Allah is hearing and granting!

We have always praised your constructive efforts to strengthen the brotherly relations among the various groups of the Islamic Ummah, as these efforts are blessed efforts to eliminate the gap in the solid and firm structure of the Islamic Ummah, and with these endeavors, those who intend to take evil actions against Islam would not be allowed.

History will record, your courageous and wise positions against the efforts of the failed Wahhabi Foundation to dominate honorable Al-Azhar and use it to advance its sinister goals.

These positions of yours will remain forever as a brilliant and glorious record in the history of honorable Al-Azhar.

Dear Brother! The news agencies broadcast your TV talk about the issue of temporary marriage, I explicitly say that these words created a surprise as well as annoyance and dissatisfaction to me. Since this language and literature being spoken by such a person like you is not what I have known from your Excellency. Your words were irritating and stimulating. While you have always been willing for moderation, fairness and reliance on superior logic.

Your speech on Egyptian TV was a heavy attack to the school of the Ahlul-Bayt (PBUH) in the matter of temporary marriage. It was also an attack to all the Sunni Muftists who intended to give fatwa according to this subject, since you have considered the issuance of such fatwas as betrayal, and this is a strange encounter that has absolutely no history of Islamic jurisprudence! Ibn Abbas, as it is famous, gave fatwa on temporary marriage being allowed. Don’t you think that what you said is accusing people of betrayal? Isn’t accusation of people and denial of the truth hidden in what you said?

In this regard, we need to draw your attention to the following points:

Temporary marriage is not a means to abuse by sensual abusers and homosexuals! For this reason, in the questions we have been asked, we have given a fatwa that temporary marriage is only permitted if it is necessary, for example, when a person is away from his family and fears that if doesn’t use such a jurisprudential rule, falls into the trap of debauchery and sins, or a single person, who despite the urgent need of sexuality, doesn’t have the possibility to get married permanently! On this basis, we do not go wrong if the temporary marriage is called necessity marriage!

Here under, are some indications of the prominent personalities of the Sunni community about the statements of Ibn Abbas; the evidence contains important and remarkable references that may break the famous image about the temporary marriage discourse in the minds of all of jurisprudents.

“Al-Zay‘ali” in the book “tabyin-Al-haqa’iq” in the description of this sentence (temporary marriage is not allowed) explicitly states:

Malik has said: temporary marriage is permissible, because it is religious and lawful, so it should remain as a rule until an abrogation is found for it. The rule of temporary marriage being Halal is famous to be also given by Ibn Abbas, and many Yemeni and Meccan companions have followed him on this issue. In this regard, this verse of the Qur’an is cited: “It is obligatory for you to pay the women who are married to them temporary,”. Ata, quoting Jabir, states that during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and Abu Bakr, and half of the time of the caliphate of Omar, we performed the temporary marriage rule, then, according to “Abu Sa’id al-Khadri “,” Omar “stopped the people from such an act, but the Shia still believes in this ruling.” [1]

Ibn Rushd, in the book “Bedayat-Al-Mojtahid”, said: “Most of the Companions and jurisprudents of all countries have forbidden this ruling. The rule is allowed by Ibn Abbas in this regard, and Meccan and Yemeni companions also obeyed him in this ruling, and narrated that Ibn Abbas referred to the following verse, in his remarks” So with Those whom you have enjoyed temporary marriage, give them their Marriage-portion as prescribed “he also referred to the phrase “till a determined time”.

 It is quoted from Ibn-Abbas that, ” The temporary marriage rule is the mercy and kindness from Allah the Almighty, by which he has been thoroughly compassionate and merciful to the Ummah of Muhammad (pbuh), and if “Omar” did not forbid the people from this ruling, then no one would have committed adultery except for the lowest. “[2]

Al-Tha’labi in the book” Al-Kashf al-Bayan” said, “Except Imran ibn al-Hussein, Abdullah ibn Abbas and some of his students and a group of Ahl al-Bayt, no one allows a temporary marriage.”

Then he says about the temporary marriage: “Was there a controversy about this verse that is firm or abrogated? Ibn Abbas said: “This verse is firm, and has allowed to enforce the rule of temporary marriage.” [3]

Al-Zurqani, in his commentary on Al-Mutawa, writes: “In the rest of this speech (except Rafezies, the rest are opposed), a group of Companions such as Jabir, Ibn Massoud, Abu Sa’id, Mu’awiyah, Asma Bennet Abu Bakr, Ibn Abbas Amr ibn al-Hawayreth, Salameh and a group of followers, have considered the rule of temporary marriage allowed. There was a controversy over whether Ibn Abbas changed his opinion to the verdict of this ruling, which Ibn Abdel-Albar said that his Maki and Yemeni students consider this to be Halal and lawful. “[4]

Ibn Hazm states in Al-Mahalli: “The lawfulness (being Halal) of this sentence after the Prophet (SAW) has been proven by some of the followers .These people, including some of the companions, include: Aṣuma Bint Abu Bakr Siddiq, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn Abbas, Mu‘awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, Amr ibn Harith, Abu Saeed al-Khadri, Salameh , Mabad of Ebne Ayyet al-Khalaf … “[5]

Ibn Taymiyyah “in” Majmo-Al-Fatwai indicated,” Temporary marriage is better than permanent marriage from 3 aspects… The second reason is that Ibn Abbas and a group of followers have allowed this action. ” [6]

“Al-sarkhasi” in “Al-Mabsoott” says, “The issue of temporary marriage … We know this issue as null and void, but” Malik Ben Anas”considers it to be” permissible according to Ibn ‘Abbas (razila al-ahna) “. [7]

This evidence shows the opinion of Ibn Abbas and a group of Companions and followers and Sunni jurisprudents. Is it appropriate to address those people allowing temporary marriage with disgusting and offensive attributes?!

3. In your speech you said: “… this is a temporary marriage issue, and the marriage contract made with this intention is void according to the consensus of the Sunni …”

You have claimed the consensus in this statement, while the claim of consensus in this style and after the arguments presented above is void and blended with personal comments; one of your scholars has also mentioned this point. He says: “It is forbidden to know this issue by Sunni jurisprudents in the form of a pseudo-consensus, we say: pseudo-consensus, since it is quoted that Ibn Abbas (razila al-ahna) permits this, and most of his students Like, Ata, Tavous, and Ibn Jerih, they have given it allowance ….

… Abu Bakr also has a different opinion on this issue; he said: “Temporary marriage is abominable (Makrooh) and not forbidden, because Ibn Mansur asked Ahmad about this question, and he replied : Avoiding it is better in my point of view and said, “The appearance of this word implies the aversion to temporary marriage, not its being forbidden …” [8]

This is the condition of the consensus that has been claimed! The style of jurisprudence requires that it be said: the famous word of Sunni scholars is to forbide (consider Haram) this issue!

Then you have stated: [The Shiite of twelve-imams objected Sunnies and considered temporary marriage acceptable, and according to the traditions that they have in hand and the personal perception of some verses of the Qur’an have followed such an idea. But the Sunni scholars denied what Shitte say concerning this issue. In this regard, Dr. Ali Hassballah says in reply to them(Shitte): “Whenever you want to justify your opinion, do not refer to the Quran, because in the Quran There is not even one word to show that this marriage is acceptable (Mobah) … “].

The remarkable thing here is that you have emphasized the consensus of all Sunni on the invalidity of temporary marriage, and take this as a reason for yourself, while neglecting one thing, all the Ahl-Albayt Imams gave fatwa in temporary marriage being permissible, and their jurisprudents have all considered this as permissible. So, is it right for you to consider the first consensus, regardless of the second consensus? Although you said in an interview with Al-Neil’s network that according to the notion of, Mahmoud Shaltot, the Imami’s sect is considered as the fifth sect, and transferring from other sects to this sect is acceptable, and this transition is like the transfer of Maliki sect to Shafei!

What is the reason for ignoring and denying the second consensus?

And worse, this is your saying: “Sunni scholars have rejected and denied their words (Shi’a)”, and in the end, you have brought the statements of Dr. Ali Hassaballah!

This is a strange saying, because it’s just a claim! And since when, Muslim scholars have accepted the claim as a reason in the arguments? This is only a lecture that does not rely on any reason and argument, and therefore has neither fruitful nor logical.

In addition to what has been said, there is also a saying from Omar ibn al-Khattab, who said: “… At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be on him), there were two Mut‘a (temporary marriage) that I prohibit the two and whoever does it I am punishing: women’s Mut‘a and Hajj Mut‘a … “. [9]

Here, we quote “Abdullah bin Umar” about the Hajj Mut‘a as it is mentioned in the “Sunnah al-Tarmḍī”:

“… Ibn Shah’ab quotes from Salem bin Abdullah and he quotes a Shami man saying that: I heard a Shami man from Abdullah bin Omar asking for a hajj Mut‘a, Abdullah replied,” Halal, “the man said,” your father forbade it. Abdullah replied: “If my father has forbidden it and the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family) has set it up, do you think that you have to execute my father’s command or the command of the Prophet of Allah?” The man replied: “The commandment of the Prophet (saw), and Abdullah said:” This rule has been made by God’s Messenger. “

Allahbani “considers the source of this hadith authentic.

We also follow the instructions of the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family) in the marriage of the women, and we will leave Omar’s order as his son Abdullah!

And it must be said that the position of Abdullah bin Omar against his father’s vote has a clear and obvious cause, because he insists that the decision to ban these two Mut‘a was a decision made by Omar personally and does not express the view of the Prophet of God . Just as Omar himself had already emphasized this point. Contrary to what Fakhr Razi and his likes claim in this regard. As a result, the efforts of Fakhr and his fellow practitioners, have failed to justify what Omar had done! [10]

It is worth noting that, Abdullah bin Umar has been clarifying this issue with these statements, and has uncovered an extremely important issue. It is argued that this group in the issue of two Mut‘a being forbidden(haram), with the excuse of the abrogation of Quranic verses and narratives attributed to the Prophet, as well as the claim of consensus on this ruling, tried to justify Omar’s position on this issue. In fact, they gave more importance to the person and gave a marginal and trivial role to the legacy and tradition of Islam. They even used this legacy to defend the caliph “Omar”.

 This method seems to have been a permanent approach to the literature of this group. An approach that unfortunately is very dangerous!

4. The image you give of marriage in Shiite jurisprudence is incomplete, distorted and heterogeneous, incompatible with academic honesty, quoting the views of the people. Let me talk explicitly with you, you talked about it with the language of politicians! While at the beginning of the al-Azhar Imamate at the Religious Dialogue Conference in Washington, you promised: “The disagreement between us and Shi’a is like the difference between me as a Sunni Maliki and a Sunni Hanafi … and we emphasize this and We adhere to it and prevent the entry of these issues into political games. “So what did happened that you get back on what you already said?

We hope that the situation will return to its natural way, and we speak with the language accepted by the knowledged-men, and adhere to the principles of constructive discourse in the essential and fundamental issues of the Ummah!

You said about temporary marriage: “Temporary marriage is a temporary meeting between men and women that is only aimed at satisfying lust …”.

The purpose of temporary marriage is not just the satisfaction of lust, but there is also a pressing emotional need that it may not be less important than turning off the fire of lust! In the above, we said that this marriage is special for emergencies, that is, those who are under severe and deadly sexual pressure, so that if they avoid getting married, they may lose their sanity! Therefore, if the purpose of the temporary marriage is to eliminate the sexual problem of millions of women and men, this is enough for this rule being religious, legitimate and lawful!

5. In your speech, it says: “… which free woman is to accept this degradation? Does not this mean selling a body to a handful of money? What is her difference with whores? … “.

I’m so sorry. Was temporary marriage at the very beginning of Islam and when the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered it, was a humiliation for a woman who was free and meant to sell her body, and was a free woman a prostitute?! This is the case now. Therefore, temporary marriage is an urgent requirement on the part of the two sides of the marriage that will enable them to arrange a marriage as soon as they can, so that each of them will benefit from each other for a period of time. In permanent marriage the situation is just like that.

My grief is that the judgment of the rules of Allah is described in this way is abundant and not endless, even though we suppose that this rule is abrogated!

Temporary marriage is like the permanent marriage, and only some of its terms are exempted. This is also not strange, some Sunni jurisprudents consider marriage to be legitimate (marriage in travel). In this marriage, the alimony payment to the woman and the provision of her housing have been exempted, and the Sunni jurisprudents issued a fatwa with full freedom, and no one has accused them of betrayal according to this fatwa! What is the difference between the two?

But in terms of the peace of mind, the kindness and compassion that have come in your remarks, these are the philosophy of marriage, and the marriage rule is not oriented around them, because the lack of obtaining it in permanent marriage doesn’t lead to its being illegitimate either. Moreover, sometimes all of this happens in temporary marriage, because such a marriage is not for one day or two days, but sometimes the marriage is also carried out for several months or several years, and, accordingly, the possibility of having peace and calmness is high in temporary marriage. Therefore, these do not provide a good reason to deny the legitimacy of temporary marriage.

6. Among the issues mentioned in your speech are: “Al-Azhar believes: Temporary marriage is forbidden and like prostitution”.

Is it true that Al-Azhar describes the fatwa of one of the five recognized sects as a fatwa associated with prostitution?!

In “Sahih Muslim” it has been mentioned that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) three times gave the “‘Am Oṭas” a temporary marriage permission … [11]

Did _al-ayaz-billah _ the Prophet issued permission to prostitute?!

Jabbir Ibn Abdullah also said in the hadith in Sahih Muslim:

“We, at the time of the Prophet, Omar and Abubakr executed the rule of Mut‘a marriage (provisional).” [12]

Also in Sahih Muslim, quoted by Jabir: “At the time of the Prophet and Abu Bakr, we were carrying out the marriage ceremony, until Omar, in the case of Amr ibn Harith, forbade the execution of this rule. .. “. [13]

Did Jabir ibn Abdullah and other Companions commit prostitution?

It is strange that after all this magnification and denial of the illegitimacy of temporary marriage, the Sunni jurisprudents said: “Despite the void of this issue, there are ruling about it:

1. In the temporary marriage, divorce does not occur on the woman, and there is no Zahar (the swear of man in not being with his wife ever) in such a marriage . In this marriage, the parties do not inherit from each other, and neither of them will be sentenced to death if committing adultery. Moreover, the temporary marriage with the woman whose husband has divorced her 3 times is not permissible.
2. In the temporary marriage, until the man hasn’t done the intercourse with the woman, he will not be commited to give any such rights as divorce, marriage, and alimony; and in spite of that, the woman will have the right to be received dowry. And that in the Shafi’i religion and the words attributed to Ahmad and in the tradition of al-Maliki’s religion,the promised dowry is mentioned due to the fact that the time limit is determining the amount of dowry. Hanifi’s opinion is that if intercourse happens, if there is both promised dowry as well as a common-given dowry the fewer one should be given to the woman and if there is no promised dowry she will be given the common-given dowry regardless of how much it is. But Maliki and Hannabelle believe that it will be entitled by her after the intercourse, and this is al-lakhmisi’s al-Maliki’s comment.
3. If a woman gives a birth during the temporary marriage, the child’s offspring is returned to the father, whether or not the husband validates this marriage, because he is in a pseudo-marriage situation and the wife has been married to him. The valid period of time for determining the realtion would be calculated since the time of intercourse and the Hanafi fatwa is based on this.
4. In temporary marriage, after the intercourse, the same close relations(Mahramiyat) as the permanent marriage between men and women and their parents and their offspring is achieved.
5. A person who makes temporary marriage, whether a woman or a man, is not convicted because the sentences are removed if there is a doubt. It is doubtful here that the difference between the sentence is this type of marriage, so if anyone commits it knowing that it is forbidden to do this, it will be punished because the that individual has sinned. But there is no sentence done on him. [14]

In the end, I repeat this once again and emphasize that temporary marriage is not a response to sexual insanity, but rather, according to the school of the Ahlul Bayt (PBUH), a solution Allah has given us to deal with existing problems, in human societies. This way of treatment is derived from the traditions of the Prophet’s (pbuh) – this is in the circle of emergency cases, not in the circle of sinister illusions, combined with debauchery.

The next point is that you asked the girls and boys to ask who has issued the fatwa for the temporary marriage: “Ask who issued the temporary marriage fatwa, ask him if the rule is for your own daughter would you accept? When he did not accept, tell him: be graceful and pious for Muslim girls too … “

First, the Prophet of God, who founded the foundation of this rule, is more worthy of this question and this rebuke!

Secondly, as we have said, temporary marriage is intended for emergencies, and this does not mean that anyone in this field who has issued a fatwa about it is dealing with this issue because he is not in a position to be challenged with these questions! Albeit, if the purpose of these questions is not to create a problem for anyone who has given this fatwa!

In addition, I do not think that the style of stimulation is a good and fruitful way to study jurisprudential issues!

For this reason, it is desirable to examine such serious and important issues in scientific and research centers through a sound scientific and logical debate, apart from any religious fanaticism, then to be judged either correctly or incorrectly, rather than in a language of incitement Anger and

detestation in the media to be exploited by people who do not see any good and benefit for Islam and Muslims!

We hope that all of us – in these difficult and tough conditions that hurt the Islamic Ummah – will try to silence the tribunes that curb the sedition and spread hatred and detestation. and hear from you the good news like your name (Tayyeb) to be followed by Unity and solidarity and put an end to disagreement! And pleasing Allah and his Prophet and the noble Muslims, as we have already heard such statements from your language, and we wish you good endings and a long life with good health!

God bless you

Wasslam-aleykum-va-rahmat-allah

Your brother, Naser Makarem Shirazi

20 Shawal 1438 AH / July 15, 2017

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[1]. Tabyeen-Alhaqayeq Description of Al-Kanz-ALdaqayeq2/115.

[2]. Bedayat-almodjtahed-Nahayat-almoqtased: 2/47.

[3]. Al-kashff and al-Bayan: 3/286 – 287.

[4]. Description of al-Zarqani Ali al-Ma’taba: 3/199.

[5]. Al-Mahli: 9/519 – 520.

[6]. Total al-Fatwi – Ibn Taymiyyah: 32/93.

[7]. Almabsot: 5/152.

[8]. Research as: Mut‘a

Al-Masdar: I pray Almighty Almighty.

[9]. Senan al-Baykhighi: 7/206.

[10]. About: al-Tafsir al-Kaybir: 10/50 (Dar al-Kabul al-Alamiyah, Tehran, Fiji al-Ayyah: Fma al-Mutaf …).

[11]. Sahih Muslim: 2/1033, Al-Hadith 18 (Tayyar إحياء التراث العربی).

[12]. Al-Mousdr nafsa, al-Hadith 15.

[13]. Al-Mussadr -nafsa, al-Hadith 16.

[14]. Research as: Mut‘a and divorce