Hence one can speak of a consensus (ijma') in the sense that...

Hence one can speak of a consensus (ijma') in the sense that all Muslims at one time agreed that mut'a was permitted, even though afterwards a disagreement arose. In order to chose the right course, we cannot base ourselves upon opinion but must hold fast to that concerning which we have certainty. Hence we must conclude that mut'a is still permitted, as long as we do not have certain knowledge to the contrary. The hadith which point to the banning of mut'a are themselves questionable.

When we realize that one of the incontestable elements of Shi'ism as established by the Imams is the permissibility of mut'a, then no hadith related from 'Ali stating that mut'a is forbidden can be authentic. Someone who held without question that mut'a is permissible would not relate a hadith from the Prophet that it is forbidden. On many occasions 'Ali censured 'Umar's banning of mut'a.

His saying: 'If 'Umar had not banned mut'a, no one but the wretched would practice fornication' is well-known, and no one has questioned its authenticity. Those who hold that mut'a is forbidden have also claimed the consensus of the Community as one of their proofs. They say that after 'Umar banned mut'a, all of the Prophet's went along with him with the exception of Ibn 'Abbas, and he changed his opinion towards the end of his life.

In answer to this claim, the Shi'is point out that 'consensus' can not be accepted as a valid proof of the banning of mut'a; and in any case, the very fact that the Shi'i Imams-the Household of the Prophet-who are the very pillars of Islam, have all agreed that mut'a is permitted shows that there was in fact no consensus.

Moreover, from the first the Shi'is have agreed on the permissibility of mut'a, to such an extent that this view has always been singled out as one of the specific features of Shi'ism. Given this fact, to claim consensus is meaningless. In addition, as we have seen above, many of the Prophet's outstanding and their followers held that mut'a was permitted. Finally, the claim that Ibn 'Abbas changed his view on mut'a toward the end of his life has never been substantiated.

Even if it were to be proven, one could only claim consensus if we were certain that no one was opposed to the view that mut'a is forbidden; whereas we know that in fact the number of opponents was quite large.