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

Misyār مسيار properly zawāj al-misyār زواج المسيار is a type of Islamic [[sharia]] marriage, whose name originates in colloquial Gulf Arabic. 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 the permission of the woman's father/[[wali]] (though in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence it's not required). The marriage can thus be entered into quickly, and is ideal for people looking for sexual gratification while traveling (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

1. The mahr, which cannot be retained by the man even after divorce or taken from her. But it can be retained in the case of Khul'  i.e. when a wife initiates a divorce through court. (A man in Sharia law can divorce by merely saying the word "I divorce you" but a woman can only obtain a divorce through the approval of a judge).  

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|43|630}}|Narrated `Aisha:

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.  

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy stated<ref>https://erej.org/%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1/</ref>:

2- A marriage where the woman stays at her parent’s house. And she can meet with her husband in her parent’s house or anywhere else. Meaning that there’s no financial support nor housing for the wife.

If the partners agree that the woman will stay with her family or that her share of the husband’s time will be during the day and not during the night, or on certain days or certain nights, there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the marriage is announced and not hidden.”

Qaradawi said<ref>https://etheses.uin-malang.ac.id/11316/1/15781014.pdf, p57</ref>:

A marriage requires the woman's family's approval, the publicity of the marriage even for a minimum degree, not setting a duration for the marriage and the mahr. If the a marriage fulfills these requirements and the woman relinquished her claims then the marriage is valid.

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. <ref>{{Cite web