Misyar (Traveler's Temporary/Easy Marriage): Difference between revisions

Misyār مسيار properly nikāh al-misyār نكاح المسيار or ziwāj al-misyār زواج المسيار is a type of Islamic sharia marriage, whose name originates in colloquial Gulf Arabic but whose tradition is alleged to go back to the prophet. The practice is often compared to the practice of mut'ah, found in the hadith and in contemporary practice amongst the Shi'ah, although Sunnis do not see the two as analogues. The misyār marriage differs from a regular, traditional Shari'ah marriage in that the woman relinquishes any claim to some of her traditional rights in the marriage, namely nafaqah or financial spousal support, sakan or housing, and the right to spend the night with her husband. The burdens on the man are thus reduced, leaving him with only the burden of providing a mahr, two adult, male witnesses, a (verbal or written) marriage contract, and perhaps (this is disputed) the permission of the woman's father/wali. The marriage can thus be entered into quickly, and is ideal for people looking for sexual gratification while travelling (thus the name) or those who otherwise could not meet all of the traditional requirements of a shari'ah marriage, or for people could not find or provide for all of the traditional elements of an Islamic marriage, such as very young men, poor men, widows, and spinsters. The practice is very controversial in the Muslim world, attracting criticism from both social conservatives who allege it promotes sexual promiscuity and lack of male investment in the family, and feminists who say it hurts women by taking away their rights and promotes lack of male investment in the family. Never the less, although some Muslim jurists have ruled against it for its undesirable social outcomes, most jurists, even those opposed to it, agree that it is a form of marriage which meets all of the traditional requirmements of a marriage in fiqh.^[1][2]

Etymology

The word originates in colloquial Arabic. The root of the verb is ر-ي-س with a verb sār سار meaning to walk or, by analogy, to travel. In colloquial Khaliji/Gulf arabic, by itself the word misyār مسيار means passing/dropping by or staying for a short amount of time. The meaning of of the phras is thus something like "short stay/passing by traveler's marriage."^[3]

Requirements

The traditional requirements of an Islamic marriage are:

1. The mahr or bride price.

2. Two adult male witnesses (at least)

3. A verbal offer and acceptance of the marriage

4. The consent of both married parties (and the woman's wali/guardian, usually her father)^[4]

The marriage provides the following rights to the woman from them man:

1. The mahr, which cannot be retained by the man even after divorce or taken from her

2. Sakan, or housing, provided by the husbands

3. Nafaqah, or sustenance of her basic needs

4. The right to sleep with him in his bed at least semi-regularly

The misyār marriage involves the woman relinquishing some or all of these rights (except for the mahr, which is necessary for the marriage to take place).^[5] Although the term "misyār" is a neo-logism in modern neo-Arabic, Sahih al Bukhari does say:

Most Islamic scholars, then, consider it halal for the wife to forego some of her rights (by will, not by compulsion) if she wants to. The misyār marriage thus allows the two parties legitimate sexual intercourse while removing some of the responsibilities of the man to his wife.

Differences from traditional Islamic Marriage

Since the misyār marriage does not require the bruidegroom to provide the bride with any nafaqah/sustenance or sakan/housing it is much cheaper for the man than the full Islamic marriage with all of the rights claimed by the woman. The mahr itself can be anything (in the Sahih hadith the prophet accepts inter alia an iron ring as the mahr of a woman), so the misyār is ideal for men who cannot afford to house and provide for a wife. Since the husband also has no obligation to sleep at the house of the wife, it is also ideal for men looking for short term sexual encounters or sexual encounters outside the bounds of their main marriage.

Even though the man is not obligated to take care of the woman in the same way as in a normal Islamic marriage, he still bears the responsibility for child support for all children that result from the marriage. If he chooses divorce, tho, the wife is (as in regular Islamic marriages) entitled to nothing from the man but the mahr.

Social Effects

The misyār marriage has arisen in the Gulf due to a number of factors:

1. The rise of "spinsterhood" or women who, due to age or previous marriage, are not considered attractive on the dating market.

2. The heavy burden of mahr + nafaqah on poorer men, especially with the growth in expectations for mahr from men.

3. The strict social expectations around sex since the Islamic revival, with casual or non-marital sex becoming increasingly taboo and even punished by the government in some Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia.

The misyār has thus allowed for more men and women to enter into more or less normal marriages, just without the burden of support falling on the man, but have also been a method for men to engage in promiscuous sexual behavior with many women or even prostitution, as well as engaging in predatory relationships with poor or other option-less women who feel that they cannot do better. It has thus contributed to a rise in sexual promiscuity in the places where it has been practiced. Many men enter into misyār marriages and divorce shortly after the sexual act is concluded, raising comparisons to the muta'ah marriage (misyār, unlike muta'ah, does not have a set time limit of expiration for the marriage, but like regular Islamic marriage it is easy for the man to get a divorce).^[6] Feminists have decried the position of women in misyār marriages who feel used for sex and unsupported by their husband.^[7][8][9]

Controversies

The misyār marriage has been the cause of many controversies on the societal scale and for individual famous Muslims.

The misyār marriage has been accused by social conservatives of spreading sexual promiscuity and loose morality in Mulim societies. Feminists and social conservatives have accused misyār of cause the mistreatment of women and the abandonment of the children resulting from such couplings. For this reason, although they acknowledge that the misyār is, as far a jurisprudence goes, an allowable form of Islamic marriage, many Islamic scholars and sheikhs such as ibn Baz have ruled it invalid due to the social harms it causes, while others such as Qaradawi have allowed it with reservation. ^{[10] [11]}

In 2025, the promminent Islamic da'i Mohammad Hijab was accused by an anonymous woman of engaging in a misyār "sex marriage" where she was mistreated, used for sex, abused, and cut off from her family and friends. She accused Mohammad Hijab of telling her to act "like his girlfriend", giving her a McDonald's meal for a mahr, hiding the marriage from her father (she had no wali/guardian when she was married, which is considered illegitimate in most schools of Islamic law but is allowed by the Hanafis for all forms of marriage), and of gas lighting her and threatening her with social ostracization should she tell anyone of their arrangement. She and her father went on the record that Hijab used his knowledge of the shari'ah and his reputation to bully the woman, who is a single mother, into the marriage and to keep her in it despite her protestations and pleas for support. Hijab has responded that the misyār marriage was Islamically sound and denied all wrongdoing.^[12]

Sources