This excerpt is taken from the book of Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Hadith 19: Mut'ah (Temporary Marriage)
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, An-Nikah, Chapter: The Prophet's prohibition of Mut'ah finally, Hadith: 5115
The proponents of the rise of Islam have collected narrations regarding Mut'ah and have used the words "Mu'adh Allah," "Na'udhu Billah," and "Astaghfirullah" in brackets with each one. Similarly, by declaring the hadiths about Mut'ah false, they have tried to open the door to denying all the hadiths. According to them, several incorrect conclusions have been drawn from the narrations about Mut'ah, which are as follows:
➊ The permission for Mut'ah was not limited only to the time of war during the Prophetic era.
➋ Mut'ah was commonly practiced among the Companions رضي الله عنهم and the Tabi‘in.
➌ The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم repeatedly forbade the Companions رضي الله عنهم and finally declared it permanently prohibited, yet openly this practice continued during your era, the era of Siddiqi, and the era of Faruqi.
➍ This practice is against the dignity and honor of the Companions رضي الله عنهم, therefore all these narrations about Mut'ah (in Bukhari and Muslim) are fabricated.
➎ The argument of Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما in favor of its permissibility
فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ
"which you benefit from through this marriage."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:24)
is, along with the fabrication, the result of a Magian conspiracy.
Answer:
We agree that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) explicitly forbade it in the end, but the conclusions drawn by the rise of Islam are incorrect. The first conclusion is flawed in that during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), temporary marriage (Mut'ah) was only permitted in the army during times of war out of necessity. Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) has narrated a few hadiths regarding this.
➊ Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them):
إن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عن المتعة وعن لحوم الحمر الأهلية زمن خيبر
"Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) forbade Mut'ah and the meat of domesticated donkeys on the occasion of the Battle of Khaybar."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, An-Nikah, Chapter: The Prophet's final prohibition of Mut'ah marriage, Hadith: 5115
➋ It is narrated from Abu Jamrah that he said: I heard Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them), and he was asked about the issue of Mut'ah with women, and he permitted it. His freed slave said to him: This ruling is only when conditions are severe and there is a scarcity of women, or something like that. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) said: Yes.
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, An-Nikah, Chapter: The Prophet's final prohibition of Mut'ah marriage, Hadith: 5116
➌ Jabir bin Abdullah and Salamah bin Akwa (may Allah be pleased with both of them) narrate: We were in an army when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent a messenger to us who said:
إنه قد أذن لكم أن تستمتعوا فاستمتعوا
"You are permitted to do Mut'ah, so do Mut'ah."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, An-Nikah, Chapter: The Prophet's final prohibition of Mut'ah marriage, Hadith: 5117-5118
➍ Salamah bin Akwa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that he said:
أيما رجل وامرأة توافقا فعشرة ما بينهما ثلاث ليال فإن أحبا أن يتزايدا أو يتتاركا تتاركا فما أدري أشيء كان لنا خاصة أم للناس عامة قال أبو عبد الله وقد بينه على رضى الله عنه عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه منسوخ
"Whoever a man and a woman agree upon, they will have companionship for three days and three nights, then if they want to extend the period, they may extend it or leave it." I do not know if this was specific to us or general for all people. Abu Abdullah (Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) told the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that this is abrogated.
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, An-Nikah, Chapter: The Prophet's final prohibition of Mut'ah marriage, Hadith: 5119
From these hadiths, it is explicitly clear from the second hadith that according to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them), the permissibility of Mut'ah was specific to necessity and not general. The third hadith shows that it was specific to the army, i.e., the state of war, and Imam Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated this hadith with clarification, stating that only three days' leave was given to the army, then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade it.
The first hadith mentions that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) told Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade it on the day of Khaybar.
From this detail, it is understood that the permission for Mut'ah during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was specific to the state of war and was not generally permitted. Imam Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) and other scholars have said that the prohibition and permission of Mut'ah occurred twice. It was lawful before Khaybar, then forbidden at Khaybar, then permitted for only three days on the day of Autas (near the conquest of Mecca), and then forbidden until the Day of Judgment. The narration in Abu Dawood that the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade it during the Farewell Pilgrimage means that the prohibition was from the day of Autas, but the general announcement of this prohibition was made in the sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage.
◈ Note: In my view, the prohibition of Mut'ah marriage was revealed in Mecca in the Meccan Surahs, as Allah Almighty said:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ ﴿٥﴾ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ ﴿٦﴾ فَمَنِ ابْتَغَىٰ وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ ﴿٧﴾
"And those who guard their private parts except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed - But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors."
Reference: (23-Al-Mu’minun:5-7)
The wife obtained through Mut'ah marriage is not considered a wife in the customary sense because permanence is implied in marriage, whereas Mut'ah does not involve the intention of permanence, and slaves are also not called wives in the customary sense, nor are slaves included in Mut'ah marriage. It is understood that Mut'ah marriage, which is other than (wife and slave), falls under the category of forbidden.
As for the fact that the hadith narrated from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) shows that Mut'ah marriage was lawful until the Battle of Khaybar and forbidden at Khaybar, its example is like carrion, blood, pork, and what is slaughtered in the name of other than Allah, which were forbidden from the beginning but were specifically declared in Surahs Al-An'am, An-Nahl, Al-Baqarah, and Al-Ma'idah, especially that which is slaughtered in the name of other than Allah is shirk. Furthermore, it is established from the narration in Sahih Bukhari that Zaid bin Amr bin Nufail and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not eat slaughtered meat in the name of other than Allah even before prophethood because it is shirk. Similarly, Mut'ah was initially forbidden, but it is possible that someone intended to do Mut'ah at Khaybar, so the Prophet (peace be upon him) explicitly forbade it.
◈ Benefit: Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, and Jabir (may Allah be pleased with them) had not received the narration of permanent prohibition, so they believed in the permissibility of Mut'ah. When they received this narration, they retracted their statement, as Imam Tirmidhi has mentioned.
Question:
Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates, we participated in a battle with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and we had nothing for ourselves, so we asked:
فقلنا ألا نستخصي فنهانا عن ذلك ثم رخص لنا أن ننكح المرأة بالثوب ثم قرأ علينا يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تحرموا
"Should we castrate ourselves?" But you forbade us from doing so, then you permitted us to marry a woman in exchange for clothes. After that, you recited this verse: O you who have believed! Do not forbid the good things which Allah has made lawful for you."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Marriage, Chapter: What is disliked about celibacy and castration, Hadith: 5075, and Tafsir, Chapter of the verse: O you who have believed, do not forbid the good things, 87:5, Hadith: 4615
Answer:
From this hadith, it is established that the permissibility of mut'ah from the generality of the Quran is proven. Looking at it from the perspective of reality, it becomes quite clear that the Companions رضي الله عنهم were traveling and due to excessive desire, they reached a state where they asked the Prophet for permission to castrate themselves. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, seeing their urgent condition, did not permit them to castrate themselves but instead granted permission for mut'ah. However, this event occurred at the beginning of Islam and was later abrogated, as Imam Muhammad has narrated in the book Al-Athar a tradition from Abdullah bin Mas'ud رضي الله عنه that the Companions رضي الله عنهم were permitted mut'ah in a battle when they complained about not having wives. After that, the verses regarding marriage, inheritance, and dowry were revealed, and mut'ah was abrogated. It is possible that the verse's reference was to the time when mut'ah was permitted, and at that time, it was forbidden to call it haram. From this detail, it is understood that drawing the conclusion that mut'ah is generally permitted from the hadith, that it was commonly practiced among the Companions رضي الله عنهم, and that it was openly practiced during the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the time of Umar, are all false conclusions. This is a futile attempt to deny the hadith and the argument of the Rawafid for the permissibility of mut'ah is also incorrect.
