However...

However, to (openly) disclose a time limit as a condition, that would be the marriage of mut’ah , which is unanimously agreed to be haram by the four Imams and others.[^3] He also states about this same type of “marriage”: والصحيح أن هذا ليس بنكاح متعة ولا يحرم وذلك أنه قاصد للنكاح وراغب فيه بخلاف المحلل لكن لا يريد دوام المرأة معه وهذا ليس بشرط فإن دوام المراة معه ليس بواجب بل له أن يطلقها فإذا قصد أن يطلقها بعد مدة فقد قصد أمرا جائزا The correct opinion is that it is not a mut’ah marriage, and it is not haram .

And that is: he intends marriage and is desirous of it , as opposed to the practitioner of al-tahlil . However, he does not want the permanency of the woman with him ; and this is not a condition, as the permanency of the woman with him is not obligatory. Rather, he has the right to divorce her. So, when he intends to divorce her after a period, he has intended a permissible affair .[^4] Ibn Taymiyyah apparently attempts to refine this Sunni invention.

He therefore introduces a new condition: the man must intend that if he loves her at the end of his stay in the town, city or country, he may retain her. But then, even if he loves her, he still has the right NOT to retain her after having used her. He is free to divorce her, despite his love for her, and permanently move away from her. To Ibn Taymiyyah, as long as the man holds that in his secret intentions, the marriage is correct. Imam Ibn Qudamah (d.

620 H) submits this fatwa as well: وان تزوجها بغير شرط الا أن في نيته طلاقها بعد شهر أو إذا انقضت حاجته في هذا البلد فالنكاح صحيح في قول عامة أهل العلم الا الأوزاعي قال هو نكاح متعة والصحيح انه لا بأس به ولا تضر نيته If he marries her without (openly disclosing) any condition (of time limit), except that (in his heart) he intends to divorce her after a month, or after fulfilling his need in this town, then the marriage is valid according to the statement of the generality of the scholars except al-Awza’i.

He said: “It is a mut’ah marriage”. The correct opinion is that there is no problem with it , and his intention does no harm.[^5] Shaykh Sayyid Sabiq also declares: اتفق الفقهاء على أن من تزوج امرأة دون أن يشترط التوقيت وفي نيته أن يطلقها بعد زمن، أو بعد انقضاء حاجته في البلد الذي هو مقيم به، فالزواج صحيح. وخالف الأوزاعي فاعتبره زواج متعة.