MISYAR MARRIAGE
A Misyar Marriage is a unique Sunni Muslim innovation. Misyar marriage
is defined as an official marital "relationship" between a man and a woman
who do not live together, and where the husband is not financially responsible
for a Misyar wife. Misyar can be a temporary arrangement, but unlike the
Mut'a marriage, which ends on the expiration date
of the contract, the Misyar has no certain date for divorce, and it is up
to the man to divorce his wife whenever, or if ever, he feels like doing so.
The difference between a Misyar marriage and a normal marriage, is that the
couple does not live in one household but remain on a visitor's basis.
The need for this type of marriage is, in part, the result of economic reality.
In Egypt, most young men cannot afford to get married and support a wife and
long engagements are common. A Misyar marriage allows him to marry a girl
who then stays with her parents. The bride's parents feed and maintain her,
and they meet on occasion for marital relations. Misyar marriage is often
done by the poor who hope that someday their marriage will be a normal one
where the wife and husband live together.
Misyar marriage has been practiced in Saudi Arabia and Egypt for many years.
It was legalized in Saudi Arabia by a fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdel Aziz bin Baz
and was officially legalized in Egypt by the Egyptian Sunni Imam Sheikh Mohammed
Sayyed Tantawi in 1999. The Mufti of Egypt is a staunch defender of Misyar
marriage.
The practive of Misyar marriage is often different from the original intent
for creating this institution. Wealthy Kuwaiti and Saudi men sometimes enter
into a Misyar marriage while on vacation. They believe that this allows them
to have sexual relations with another woman without committing the sin of
adultery. They travel to poor countries, such as Egypt or Syria, and meet
middlemen who arrange the marriage for them. Some men arrange Misyar marriages
online.
The middleman brings some girls and they pick the one that they like most.
These men pay the girl's family some money.
Families agree to the arrangement because of the money and the hope that
their girl will have some fun and visit places that she can only dream about
(i.e. luxury hotels and restaurants). They also hope for some gifts
and at the end of the vacation and that the rich "husband" will give her some
money and divorce her (although divorce was not a part of the fatwa which
created Misyar marriage). Sometimes the husband keeps the wife for next
vacation and sends her some money now and then. Many Misyar wives hope to win
the love of their husbands so that they may live with them. Since the wife
knows that she will most likely be divorced, but she does not know when, most
Misyar wives take care to prevent pregnancy.
Misyar marriage is opposed by some Islamic scholars inside and outside of Egypt,
especially scholars at the al-Azhar University in Cairo. Those who defend Misyar
marriage claim that it is in accordance with Islam. They also say that it gives
protection to many women who do not find husbands through traditional marriage.
Other articles:
Further reading: Women in Islam
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