Why do Shiites do mutta?

Answer 1

another of the misunderstood practices of Shiism that Has often been criticized especially by some of the moderns, is temporary marriage or Mutah.

it is definitely established historical fact that as the beginning of Islam, namely between the commencement of he revelation and the migration of the Holy prophet to Medina, Temporary Marriage, Called Mutah was practiced by Muslims along with permanent marriage. as an example one can cite, the case of Zubayr ( the companion of the Prophet) who married Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr, in a temporary marriage. from this union were born Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Urwah Ibn Zubayr. this figures were all among the most Famous companions of the Holy prophet. Obviously if this union were to have been illegitimate and categorized as adultery , which is one of the most grievous sins in Islam and entails heavy punishment , it would never have been perfumed by people who were among the foremost of the companions.

temporary marriage was also practiced from the time of the migration untill the death of the Holy Prophet. and even after that event during the rule of the first caliph and part of the rule the second , Muslims continued to practice it untill it was banned by the second caliph, who threatened those who practiced it with stoning. according to all of the sources , the second caliph made the following statement:" there are two Mutahs which existed in the time of the Prophet of Geod And Abu Bakr which I have banned and i will punish those who disobey my orders. these two Mutahs are the Mutah concerning the pilgrimage and the mutah concerning women. also at first some of the companions and the followers were opposed to this ban by the second caliph, since that time the Sunni have considered Mutah marriage to be unlawful. the Shiites, however, following the teachings of the Imams of the household of the prophet , continued to consider it legitimate as it was during the lifetime of the prophet himself.

the legitimacy of the Mutah marriage continued from the time of The Hijra until the death of the Holy Prophet as this verse, revealed after the Hijra, proves, and those of whom ye seek content( Istamta TUm from the same root as Mutah) give unto them their portions as a duty( Quran,IV,24) those opposed to shiism content that this verse from the chapter on women was later abrogated but the Shiah do not accept this view. In fact, the words of second caliph cited above are the best proof that up to the time of his ban such marriages were still practiced. it is inconceivable that if Mutah had been abrogated and forbidden , it would have continued to be commonly practiced by Muslims during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet and after his death until the time of the second caliph; that if Mutah had been abrogated , no action would have been taken to forbid it. we can not accept the claim that the only thing that the second caliph did was to put into action an order of prohibition and abrogation of mutah given by the holy prophet , for such a possibility is negated by the clear words of the second caliph.

from the point of view of legislation and preservation of public interest also, we must consider the legitimacy of temporary marriage , like that of divorce, one of the noteworthy features of Islam. it is obvious that laws and regulations are executed with the aim of preserving the vital interests of the people in a society and providing for their needs. the legitimiztion of marriage among mankind from the beginning until today is an answer to the instinctive urge for sexual union. permanent marriage has been continuously practiced among the different peoples of the world. yet despite this fact, and all the campaigns and efforts at public persuasion that are carried out against it, there existed throughout the countries of the world, in large and small cities, both hidden and public places were illegitimate sexual union or fornication takes place. this in itself is the best proof that permanent marriage can not fulfill the instinctive sexual desires of everyone and that a solution must be sought for the problem.

Islam is a universal religion and in its legislation takes all types of human being into concideration. concidering the fact that permanent marriage does not satisfy the insyinctive sexual urge of certain man and that adultery and fornication are according to Islam the most deadly of poisons , destroying the order and purity of human life Islam has legitimized temporary marriage under special conditions by virtue of which it becomes distinct from adultery and fornication and free of their evils and corruptions. this conditions include the necessity for the women to be single, to become married temporarily to only one man at one time, and after divorce to keep a period during which she can not be remarried(Iddah) half of the time that is requited after the permanent marriage. the legitimizing of temporary marriage in islam is done with the aim of allowing within the sacred law possibilities that minimize the evils resulting from the passions of men, which if not channeled lawfully manifest themselves in much more dangerous ways outside the structure of religious law.