Praise be to Allah.
Ruling on mut`ah marriage
Mut`ah marriage is temporary marriage; it is prohibited and invalid according to the majority of scholars, and it was narrated that there was consensus on its being prohibited, whether it is done with or without a guardian and witnesses.
Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni, 7/178: Mut`ah marriage is not permissible. What is meant by mut`ah marriage is marrying a woman for a specific period, such as saying: I give you my daughter in marriage for one month, or for one year, or until Hajj ends, or until the pilgrim returns, and so on, whether the time period is known or unknown. This is an invalid marriage, as was stated by Ahmad, who said: Mut`ah marriage is prohibited… This is the view of most of the Companions and jurists, and those from whom it was narrated that it is prohibited include `Umar, `Ali, Ibn `Umar, Ibn Mas`ud and Ibn az-Zubayr. Ibn `Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Malik, the scholars of Madinah, Abu Hanifah, the scholars of Iraq, al-Awza`i among the scholars of Syria, al-Layth among the scholars of Egypt, ash-Shafa`i and all other scholars of hadith are of the view that mut`ah is prohibited. End quote.
How to understand the report of `Umar that is mentioned in the question
With regard to the report of `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), it was narrated by `Abd ar-Razzaq in al-Musannaf, 14021, from Ya`la, that Mu`awiyah engaged in a mut`ah marriage with a woman in at-Ta’if, but she objected to that. We went to Ibn `Abbas and some of us told him about that, and he said to him: Fine. But I did not feel at ease with the answer until Jabir ibn `Abdillah came. We went to him in his house, and the people asked him about some things, then they told him about that mut`ah and he said: Yes, we did mut`ah at the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and Abu Bakr and `Umar until, at the end of `Umar’s caliphate, `Amr ibn Hurayth did mut`ah with a woman, whose name Jabir told me but I forgot it. The woman became pregnant, and news of that reached ` Umar, so he summoned her and asked her about that and she said: Yes [it is true]. `Umar said: Who did he ask to witness it? `Ata’ said: I do not know. She said: My mother or her guardian. He said: Why not anyone other than these two? He said: He was afraid that it might be immoral.
In at-Tamhid, 10/114, Ibn `Abd al-Barr attributed it to `Abd ar-Razzaq with the wording: She said: My mother and her son, or her brother and her son. He said: Why not anyone other than these two? And he forbade that.
Muslim, 1405, narrated that Abu’z-Zubayr said: I heard Jabir ibn `Abdillah say: We used to engage in mut`ah in return for a handful of dates or flour, for several days, at the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and Abu Bakr, until `Umar forbade it as is indicated by the case of `Amr ibn Hurayth.
What appears to be the case is that `Umar asked about witnesses to find out whether it was zina or a mut`ah marriage. This is indicated by the fact that he said: He was afraid that it might be immoral, meaning mischief.
When it became clear that it was a mut`ah marriage, he forbade it.
Regarding the words “Why not someone other than these two?” They indicate that a woman cannot be a witness to a marriage.
It does not indicate that mut`ah may be permitted if there were witnesses or two men witness it, rather that question was asked to distinguish mut`ah from zina, and to teach people what is stipulated in a valid marriage, namely that it should be witnessed by men.
For more information, please see the answer to question no. 20738.
And Allah knows best.
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