He said...

He said, ‘Yes, we did perform the mut’a during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣ) and during that of Abū Bakr and of Umar.’”[^8] Muslim, relying on the isnād of Jābir ibn Abdullāh, also narrated in his Sahīh that the latter had said, “We used to contract mut’a for a handful of dates and flour for a few days during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣ) and that of Abū Bakr till ‘Umar banned it with regard to ‘Amr ibn Hareeth..”[^9] The story of ‘Amr ibn Hareeth is that a poor woman knocked at the man’s door once pleading to him to give her something to satisfy her hunger, but the man refused to give her anything unless she let him have her way with her, claiming that it was the mut’a marriage.

The woman accepted this condition against her will. Caliph ‘Umar came to know about it, so he was very angry. This prompted him to ban it. Moreover, he decreed to stone anyone who practiced this type of marriage as is clear from a narrative recorded by Muslim in his Sahīh the isnād of which is traced to Abi Nadra.

The latter said, “Ibn Abbās used to enjoin the mut’a , and Ibn al-Zubayr used to prohibit it, so I mentioned this to Jābir who said, ‘We used to practice mut’a when we were in the company of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣ). When ‘Umar came [to power], he said, ‘Allāh makes lawful for His Messenger whatever He wills; so, complete the hajj and the ‘umra and stay away from marrying these women.

If a man is brought to me who had married a woman off to a man, I will stone him.’”[^10] And in al-Tirmidhi’s Sahīh , while quoting Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar who was asked by a Syrian about the mut’a .

He said, ‘It is lawful.’ The man said, ‘Your father [‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb] banned it.’ [Abdullāh] Ibn ‘Umar said, ‘Do you see that my father banned it although the Messenger of Allāh (ṣ) had permitted it, should you abandon the Sunnah [of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣ)] and follow what my father says?!’”[^11] The nation’s scholar, Abdullāh Ibn Abbās , was famous with regard to his view that the verse relevant to mut’a was never abrogated.

Al-Zamakhshari says the same in his tafsīr titled Al-Kāshif where he cites Abn Abbās saying that the verse of the mut’a is among the fixed ones. In al-Bukhāri’s Sahīh , too, there is a testimony to this fact. Abū Jamrah says, “I heard Ibn Abbās being asked about the mut’a of women; he permitted it.