Several of the companions...

Several of the companions, including Ibn- Abbas, one of the highly respected companions of the Prophet, Ibn Masud, one of the first to accept Islam, and Ubayy Ibn Ka'ab, one of the scribes of the revelation, and many others used to read the verse with three more words resulting in the sentence of the form: "So those of them whom you enjoy TO AN APPOINTED TIME (Ila Ajal Musamma)." This clearly indicates that the verse refers to Mut'a. In Majma' al-Bayan, Abu Ali al-Fadl Ibn al-Hasan al-Tabarsi (d.

548/1153), one of the Shia commentator of the Quran summarizes the Shia arguments: the word 'enjoy' in this verse refers to the marriage of Mut'a, i.e., a marriage for a specified dower and a determined time period. This opinion has been related from Ibn Abbas and many of the 'followers' of the such as Isma'il Ibn Abdurrahman al-Suddy (d. 127/744- 45) and Sa'id Ibn Jubair al-Asadi (95/713-14).

In fact, this clearly must be the case, for although the words Istimta'a and Mut'a have the literal meaning of 'enjoyment', in Shari'ah (divine law) they refer to the contract of temporary marriage, especially when they are followed by the word 'women'.

Hence the meaning of the verse is: 'Whenever you draw up a contract of Mut'a with a woman, you must pay her wages.' Reference: Majma' al-Bayan, by Abu Ali al-Tabarsi, v3, p32 The Sunni View As was indicated above, the Sunnis agree that at the beginning of Islam Mut'a was permitted. For example, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1209), the famous Sunni theologian, writes in his Commentary on the Quran that Mut'a was at first permitted.

The Prophet made a lesser pilgrimage (Umrah) to Mecca, and the women of Mecca made themselves up especially for the occasion.

Some of the complained about the long separation from their wives, and the Prophet replied: "Then go and enjoy (Istamta'a) these women." (Tafsir al-Kabir, by Fakhr al-Razi, v3, p286) Those Sunnis who hold that the Quranic verse mentioned above (4:23) does indeed refer to the permissibility of Mut'a also maintain that the verse was subsequently abrogated (Naskh) by other Quranic verses.

They offer three arguments to prove their point: other Quranic verses, the sermon of Umar banning Mut'a, and the Hadith transmitted by some . The Shia, in turn, reject each of the arguments: Previous…