Temporary Marriage: A Comparison of the Jewish and Islamic Conceptions

Abstract

The Jewish marriage differs from the Catholic Christian marriage, which is an institution surrounded by the halo of a holy sacrament that cannot be nullified. It also differs from the Islamic marriage, which is closer to a legal agreement than to a sacrament, wherein the husband alone may annul the marriage, either unilaterally or by mutual consent. This is especially true of the Shi'ite marriage—the muta—which may be annulled without any divorce proceedings at a predetermined date. In this article, I present a little-known possible halakhic stipulation: temporary marriage. I consider its roots and the different applications in Talmudic sources. An example of the Babylonian application of this conditional marriage is the cry by important Babylonian amoraim, “Who will be mine for a day?” In this unique case, some of the halakhic authorities rule that there is no necessity for a get in order to terminate the marriage. I consider the early halakhic rulings on these cases and the modern version of this stipulation, which was also rejected by modern halakhic authorities. I also offer a comparative study of a possible parallel to the marriage for a predetermined period, the Shi'ite temporary marriage, which is intentionally restricted to an agreed period of time and does not require divorce to annul it. I conclude my discussion by revealing the possible common roots for the Jewish temporary marriage and the Shi'ite temporary marriage in ancient Persian law.

Deceptive Debauchery: Secret Marriage and the Challenge of Legalism in Muslim-Minority Communities

“…Twelver jurists consider the mut ( a marriage disfavored (makr ūh) rather than forbidden and govern it by a different set of rules than that of regular marriages. On this practice, see (Murata 1986;Haeri 2014;Iqbal 2023). Functionally temporary marriages are marriages intended to be short-lived unions by one or both spouses, but without the stipulation of an exact time for the end of the marriage.…”

Sexual and Reproductive Health Challenges in Temporary Marriage: A Systematic Review

“…Although temporary marriage is a legal and legitimate form of marriage and permitted in Shia Islam, it is looked down upon by self-respecting families and is not acceptable in the community. Temporary marriage is legitimate in Iranian civil law (Principles: 1075, 1095-98) 1 - 4 . Due to no necessity to register a temporary marriage and secrecy and social stigma of being involved in such type of marriage, no valid statistics are available on temporary marriage.…”