mutʿah, in Islamic law, a temporary marriage that is contracted for a limited or fixed period and involves the payment of money to the female partner. Mutʿah is referred to in the Qurʾān (Muslim scriptures) in these words:
And you are allowed to seek out wives with your wealth in decorous conduct, but not in fornication, but give them their reward for what you have enjoyed of them in keeping with your promise. (4:24)
Partners who engage in mutʿah must do so freely and must predetermine the compensation and duration of the contract. The woman, therefore, has no claim for maintenance, and the two do not inherit from one another unless there is a previous agreement on these matters. Any children from a mutʿah union go with the father. No extension of the mutʿah is permitted, but cohabitation may be resumed if a new agreement is reached with new compensation for the woman. All Muslim legal schools agree that mutʿah was recognized and practiced in the Prophet Muhammad’s time. Most Sunni Muslims, however, think the practice to have been abrogated by Muhammad. In consequence, Sunni leaders have denounced mutʿah as simple prostitution. In contrast, the Twelver Shīʿites, holding that mutʿah was forbidden not by Muhammad but by ʿUmar I, the second caliph, consider mutʿah to be still valid and defend it as a guard against prostitution or license in circumstances in which regular marriage is impossible.