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 amongst the Shi'ah, although Sunnis do not see the two as analogues. The Misyar 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]].<ref name="http_زواج">{{Cite web |title=زواج المسيار ، تعريفه ، وحكمه - الإسلام سؤال وجواب |trans-title= |author= |work=https: |date= |access-date=29 October 2023 |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231029124115/https:/islamqa.info/ar/answers/82390/%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%87-%D9%88%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85%D9%87|language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web

The Misyar marriage involves the woman relinquishing some or all of these rights (except for the mahr, which is necessary for the marriage to take place).<ref>{{Cite web

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 misyar 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.  

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 misyar 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).<ref>{{Cite web

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 misyar 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. <ref>{{Cite web