The Degradation of Women

I recall a conversation that I once had with someone. He said to me, “Do you not think that Mut’ah[1] can be a solution to some problems?”

I retorted, “Pornography can also be a solution for some problems! Usury can also be a solution for some complex problems, and the same can be said for alcohol. Was it not Allah Himself who affirmed that alcohol, despite benefits for people, is a substance which carries great sin. He also said that its harm outweighs its benefit, and the simple ability of any entity to solve a problem in your opinion does not render it permissible. Even the Socialist regime had solved some problems, but that is not relevant. What is relevant is whether or not that system of governance was from Allah. If it was from Allah, then it is not possible that Allah who is All-Knowing and All-Wise, to legislate an edict that solves one problem and creates millions of others, or an edict that clashes with the nature and honour of the Human.”

Before discussing how Mut’ah solves a single problem, consider the thousands of problems that will come as a result of it! Mut’ah has been legislated in Iran; has it solved this problem that you speak of?

Mut’ah created a myriad of problems for the Iranian government. In fact, if the police were to raid a brothel, all of the prostitutes would immediately claim that the brothel was a sacred centre where Mut’ah marriages were being conducted! Considering that both cannot be distinguished on the basis of form or arrangement, nobody would be able to prove anything against them.

When the government decided, as a precautionary measure, to force both parties of the Mut’ah to have a document proving the deal between them, prostitutes produced tens of counterfeit contracts to be used at the time of need, with the box for the names of both “spouses” left empty!

In a similar vein, many prostitutes began to take up Mut’ah as a profession solely for monetary reasons. This is mentioned by Dr. Shahla Haeri, the granddaughter of Ayatollah Al Ha’iri, in her book, Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Shia Iran.

Let us not start the topic of foundlings! Hundreds of orphans are routinely left in baskets at the doors of masjids and shrines. In the Shia magazine, al Shira’, issue 684 in the fourth year of publication, there is a quote from then Iranian president Rafsanjani, indicating the existence of a quarter million orphans in Iran as a result of Mut’ah.

So, has Mut’ah then solved the problem, or has it incurred innumerable other problems of a greater magnitude that the Iranian government can neither tackle nor ignore? These problems, at the end of the line, forced them to place a moratorium on Mut’ah marriages.

If we were to proceed under the assumption that Mut’ah is permissible and that it is an Islamic marriage, then it follows that a man is allowed to marry an unlimited number of women throughout his lifetime. As for a woman, she is able to remarry after the post-divorce waiting period, which means that she can marry four men on a yearly basis. All considered, she would potentially have shared a bed with 16 men in just the four years she spends at university!

Moreover, seeing as there is no stipulation of a contract or witnesses, and not even of the permission of the legal guardian of the girl^[2]; you won’t be blamed for allowing your imagination to run wild with regards to the number of relationships a young man or woman will potentially have engaged in throughout their lives. This is the spitting image of what a young man or woman would be doing in countries wherein licentiousness is a common practice.

I then asked my friend, “Are you completely convinced of the permissibility of Mut’ah?”

He replied with confidence, “Definitely, it is permissible!”

I said to him, “Seeing it is permissible, I would like to engage in it. Do you allow me to engage in Mut’ah with your sister?”

He was dumbfounded, and barely managed to say “It is permissible, but we do not engage in it.”

I said, “If it is permissible, then why do you not engage in it; do you consider it dishonourable? If you cannot accept that your sister sleeps with a different person every few months, then why do you accept the same thing for others? Are you from Allah’s chosen people, where your honour is sacred and the honour of others is fair game? If neither your intellect nor your nature accepts this, why do you insist on holding onto opinions of people who can err just as they can be correct?”

The extremists went out of their way to fabricate narrations that encourage Mut’ah and detail its rewards. Hereunder are some of them:

Salih ibn ‘Uqbah relates from his father that he asked Imam Baqir ‘alayh al Salam, “Does the one who engages in Mut’ah accrue reward?”

He answered “If his intention by doing so is to please Allah, and to oppose so-and-so, then he will not speak one word to the woman except that Allah will write a good deed in his account, and as he draws close to her, Allah forgives him equivalent to the amount of water that passes over his head!”

I asked “Equivalent to the amount of hair?”

He replied “Yes, equivalent to the amount of hair.”

Here is another narration attributed to Imam Baqir ‘alayh al Salam where he is quoted saying:

When the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was raised to the heavens he said, “Jibril met me and said to me ‘O Muhammad, Allah, subhanahu wa ta ‘ala says, “I have forgiven those from your ummah who engage in Mut’ah with women.””^[3]

Sayed ‘Ali Hussain Milani attempts to falsify the report of the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam forbidding Mut’ah on the Day of Khaybar, in addition to the fact that Ibn ‘Abbas ruled that it is impermissible. He states, “This is from that which we do not believe, as Ibn ‘Abbas was subservient to Amir al Mu’minin ‘alayh al Salam, especially in this type of issue which is considered from the essentials of the pure religion.”^[4]

Mut’ah is from the necessities of the religion? Subhan Allah! If that is the case, then what is the ruling of one who denies it?

This is nothing more than seeking gratification for an insatiable sexual appetite under the pretext of religion. What else? What have the two parties participating in the communion of Mut’ah even done to accrue all of this reward? What significance does Mut’ah carry for it to be considered among the necessities of the faith? Is it one of the foundational pillars of Islam?

The bitter reality is that there are people who wish to exploit Muslim women and they seek to legitimize their perverted fantasies in the name of Ahlul Bayt. How will there be any conception of a family when a man can simply go on Mut’ah spree, sharing intimacy with a different woman every few days, all without shouldering any responsibility? Why would a man need to get married when life allows for such promiscuity?

NEXT⇒ A Bitter Reality

[1] Temporary marriage – Translator.

^[2] Al Kulayni: Al Kafi, 5/541; Al Hurr al ‘Amili: Wasa’il al Shia, 21/64; al Khu’i: Sirat al Najat, 2/369.

^[3] Man la Yahduruhu al Faqih, 3/463; Wasa’il al Shia, 21/31.

^[4] Risalah fi al Mutamatti’in, pg. 34.

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