It is possible that the man may not wish...

It is possible that the man may not wish, or cannot afford, to bear these expenses, or that the woman does not wish to use the money of the man. In a permanent marriage the wife, whether she likes it or not, must accept the man as the head of the household and carry out what he says in the interest of the family situation, but in a fixed term marriage everything depends upon the terms of the agreement they conclude between themselves.

In permanent marriage, the wife and the husband, whether they like it or not will have mutual rights of inheritance with each other, while in a fixed-term marriage this is not so. Thus the real and essential difference between the fixed–term and the permanent marriage is that the former, as far as limits and conditions are concerned, is “free”, that is, it depends upon choice and the contract between the two parties.

The fact of the marriage being temporary gives to both parties a sort of liberty, because (with regard to the fixation of the duration of the agreement) they can exercise their opinion. In the case of permanent marriage, neither of the two parties (without the consent of the other party) has a right to exercise restraint in having children or to practice birth-control, but in fixed-term marriage, the consent of the other party is not necessary.

In fact, this is another sort of freedom that has been given to the couple. The children born to the couple who have temporarily married are in no way different from the issue of a permanent marriage.

Mahr (dower) is also a pre-requisite in a permanent marriage as well as in a fixed-term marriage, with the difference that in a fixed-term marriage non-specification of the amount of the mahr nullifies the marriage, whereas in a permanent marriage the marriage itself not nullified and an unspecified mahr can be arranged.

In permanent marriage, the mother and the daughter of the wife, and the father and son of the husband are forbidden (for marriage) and are mahram;[^2] it is similarly the case with the above relations in temporary (fixed-term) marriage.