Ja’far – Shu’bah...

Ja’far – Shu’bah: I asked al-Hakam concerning this verse {Also [forbidden for marriage are] women already married, except those whom your right hands possess} up till {Those of them with whom you contract mut’ah } [4:24], “ Is it abrogated? ” He said, “ NO ”.

Al-Hakam said: “ ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘If ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, had not forbidden mut’ah , none would have committed zina except a wretched person.”[^5] We already encountered this sanad in the first chapter. The chain is sahih up to al-Hakam. As for al-Hakam himself, al-Hafiẓ states about him: الحكم بن عتيبة بالمثناة ثم الموحدة مصغرا أبو محمد الكندي الكوفي ثقة ثبت فقيه إلا أنه ربما دلس Al-Hakam b.

‘Utaybah, Abu Muhammad al-Kindi al-Kufi: Thiqah (trustworthy), thabt (accurate), a jurist, except that he perhaps did tadlis .[^6] Al-Hakam was without doubt a major jurist of the Ahl al-Sunnah, and this is evident from the action of Shu’bah. He declared explicitly that the Verse of al-Mut’ah was never abrogated. Moreover, by narrating the munqati’ athar of ‘Ali to Shu’bah, he made it absolutely clear to him his understanding that the ayah was about mut’ah .

Meanwhile, the fact that the verse is unabrogated is further revealed in the general attitude of the Sunni ‘ulama . A lot of them interpret it as a reference to intercourse in a permanent nikah [^7] – a submission that contradicts the authentic ahadith quoted in our first chapter. However, there is an alternative Sunni view, which insists that the Verse of al-Mut’ah has been abrogated. For instance, Imam Ibn Hazm (d.

456 H) submits: قوله تعالى}: فما استمتعتم به منهن فآتوهن أجورهن فريضة] {٢٤ / النساء / ٤[ فنسخت بقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم إني كنت أحللت هذه المتعة ألا وإن الله ورسوله قد حرماها ألا فليبلغ الشاهد الغائب . ووقع ناسخها من القرآن موضع ذكر ميراث الزوجة الثمن والربع فلم يكن لها في ذلك نصيب. وقال محمد بن إدريس الشافعي رحمة الله عليه موضع تحريمها في سورة المؤمن وناسخها قوله تعالى} :والذين هم لفروجهم حافظون إلا على أزواجهم أو ما ملكت أيمانهم] {...

٥ مكية / المؤمن / ٢٣ [وأجمعوا على أنها ليست بزوجة ولا ملك يمين فنسخها الله بهذه الآية. His Statement, the Most High: {Those of them with whom you contract mut’ah , give them their prescribed dowries} [ Al-Nisa , 4:24]. It has been abrogated by his statement, peace be upon him: “I used to allow this mut’ah . Verily, Allah and His Messenger have (now) made it haram .