Misyar marriage

Misyar Marriage or "travellers' marriage" (Arabic نكاح المسيار) is a marriage without the couple living together in the same house, the husband not being financially responsible for his wife. There is an implication that a divorce is intended in the future. It is therefore in some sense a temporary marriage.

Misyar was observed among Sunni Muslims in Egypt as early as 1825. In modern times, it was officially legalized in Saudi Arabia by a Salafi, Ibn Baz and later in Egypt.

Since no marriage with that name or form existed during Muhammad's time, many Muslims object to the practice, calling it a bid'ah (a forbidden innovation).

It is an exclusively Sunni practice; Shia use the Nikah Mut'ah form which they conclude has proper legitimacy.

Definition of a Misyar Marriage

The difference between a Misyar marriage and a normal Nikah is:

The couple do not live in one household, but visit each other.
The husband is not financially responsible for supporting his wife .
It is intended to be a temporary arrangement.

But unlike the Nikah Mut'ah, which ends on the expiration date of the contract, the Misyar has no certain date for divorce. The intent of divorce is assumed in this type of marriage, but the time of divorce may not be revealed to the wife prior to the wedding. It may be decided at any point after the wedding by the husband, with or without the wife's knowledge or agreement. If a fixed date were included before the wedding, it would constitute a Nikah Mut'ah, and that would invalidate the marriage in Sunni Fiqh.

The usual practice is for the wife to live with her parents, meaning that marital relations are likely to occur there. The Misyar wife's husband is free to travel and leave her and her children for as long as he wishes. Having contracted such a marriage, she cannot ask for divorce on these grounds. The husband may marry another woman in another country without informing his Misyar wife. Misyar wives and children lose all their rights in the case of a divorce.

The Sunni Imam, Abu Hanifa was against Muta (temporary marriage) but in his Fiqh, when a student posed the question to him whether it was acceptable for a man to marry with the intention of divorcing his wife the next day, he said it is permissible.

Reasons for a Misyar Marriage

The need for this type of marriage is, in part, the result of economic reality. In Egypt, most young men cannot afford to get married and support a wife and so long engagements are common. A Misyar marriage allows men to marry girls who then stay with their parents. The bride's parents feed and maintain her, and the couple meets occasionally for the purpose of having sexual relations. Misyar marriages are often done by the poor who hope that someday their marriage will be a normal one where the wife and husband live together.

In Saudi Arabia the Misyar marriage has been subverted by young progressive Saudis who use the paperwork as a "license" to commit adultery or have sex outside of marriage without bringing down the wrath of the establishment upon their heads. Thus a tool of the religious establishment has been turned against them.

Islam and Misyar Marriage

Misyar marriage has been practiced in Saudi Arabia and Egypt for many years. It was legalized in Saudi Arabia by a fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdul 'Azeez ibn Abdullaah ibn Baaz and was officially legalized in Egypt by the Egyptian Sunni Imam Sheikh Muhammad Sayid Tantawy in 1999. The Mufti of Egypt is a staunch defender of Misyar marriage.

Misyar Marriage in practice

The practice of Misyar marriage is often different from the original intent for creating this institution. Wealthy Kuwaiti and Saudi men sometimes enter into a Misyar marriage while on vacation. This allows them to have sexual relations with another woman without committing the sin of zina.

They travel to poor countries, such as Egypt or Syria, and meet middlemen who arrange a marriage for them. Some men arrange Misyar marriages online. The middleman brings some girls and they pick the one that they like most. These men pay the girl's family some money.

Some Egyptian men working in the Gulf countries prefer to engage in the misyar marriage rather than live alone for years. Many of them are actually already married with wives and children in their home country, but they cannot bring them.

A reporter in Jeddah has reported that some marriage officials say seven of 10 marriage contracts they conduct are misyar, and in some cases are asked to recommend prospective misyar partners. Most of the women opting for misyar either are divorced, widowed or beyond the customary marriage age. The majority of men who take part in such marital arrangements are already married.

"All the misyar marriage contracts I conduct are between men and women remarrying," said Abu Fawaz, who’s been a marriage official for four years. "For a misyar marriage all you need is witnesses, her dowry and the acceptance of both parties. Usually the woman either has her own place or lives with her family. Most of the time the woman’s family knows while the man’s family is in the dark about it, be it his first wife or any other family members."

Arab News surveyed 30 Saudi men and women aged 20-40 regarding misyar marriage. Over 60 percent of the men surveyed would consider misyar marriage for themselves with the majority of the respondents in their 20s. Those who would not consider it for themselves would not allow it for kin, be it sisters, brothers, sons or daughters. However, among the men who would consider it themselves, only two would find such a marriage acceptable for a female relative.

“If I allowed myself to marry another man’s sister or daughter ‘misyarically’ then it would only be fair to accept the same for my own female kin,” said Mohammad H. “It’s a double standard for men to accept it for themselves and other men but not the females. After all, if we all took up the same policy then who would we marry — each other?”

Families agree to the arrangement because of the money and the hope that their girl will have some fun and visit places that she can only dream about (i.e. luxury hotels and restaurants). They also hope for some gifts and at the end of the vacation that the rich "husband" will give her some money and divorce her (although divorce was not a part of the fatwa which created Misyar marriage). Sometimes the husband keeps the wife for his next vacation and sends her some money now and then. Many Misyar wives hope to win the love of their husbands so that they may live with them permanently. Since the wife knows that she will most likely be divorced, but she does not know when, most Misyar wives take care to prevent pregnancy.

Sunni Opposition to Misyar Marriage

Misyar marriage is opposed by some Islamic scholars inside and outside of Egypt, especially scholars at the al-Azhar University in Cairo. Those who defend Misyar marriage claim that it is in accordance with Islam. They also say that it gives protection to many women who cannot find husbands through traditional marriage.

Shia view

According to Shia belief, Nikah Mut'ah fills a necessary social function in giving laws for those who need it. At the same time, the Shia view holds that Umar forbade Nikah Mut'ah, instead of doing what Shia Muslims view as am innovation in creating a type of Nikah Mut'ah, a version without Quranic support, not informing the woman the right to know how long the marriage is supposed to last. Since it is stated by Sunni Scholars that it is not permissible to stipulate a date of divorce, Shia view this form of marriage as deception and a grevious sin towards the woman entering a marriage without knowing that the husband has the intention of divorcing her after a certain period. Shia also view this as altering with the concept of Nikah and damaging its concept of being a permanent marriage.

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