Tahrim Nikah al-Muta
- Author died
- 490 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ṭaybah lil-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ
Tahrim Nikah al-Mut'a (The Prohibition of Temporary Marriage) is a specialized legal and hadith treatise by the Palestinian Shafi'i jurist and traditionist Abu al-Fath Nasr ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi, also known as Ibn Abi Hafiz (d. 490 AH / 1096 CE), dedicated to establishing the permanent prohibition and abrogation of temporary marriage (mut'a) in Islamic law .
Contents and Structure
The work opens with a linguistic and legal definition of temporary marriage, followed by an explanation of the underlying circumstances for its temporary allowance during expeditions in the early period of Islam and what scholars have stated regarding that dispensation . It addresses legal consequences such as the attribution of paternity (luḥūq al-walad) for children born from such unions, and systematically presents and refutes the scriptural and textual arguments advanced by those who permit the practice .
Al-Maqdisi details the evidence establishing the prohibition of mut'a and examines the chronological timeline of when the prohibition took effect, maintaining that the practice was abrogated twice . He addresses claims that the prohibition originated merely as a personal ruling by Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, refuting this assertion by detailing Umar's adherence to religious bounds, documenting the retraction of those Companions who had initially permitted it, and recording the consensus (ijma') of the Companions and early scholars on its prohibition .
The treatise also records a historical debate on temporary marriage that took place between the jurist Ibn Aktham and the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun . Furthermore, al-Maqdisi examines penal questions, such as whether engaging in mut'a incurs the prescribed legal penalty (hadd), and discusses the legal position attributed to the Hanafi jurist Zufar—who held that such a marriage contract is legally validated as perpetual while the time condition is rendered void—providing a critique of that stance . The book concludes with a systematic refutation of ten specific objections and misconceptions raised regarding the topic .
Method and Transmission
Al-Maqdisi compiles prophetic traditions, narrations from the Companions, and legal reports using chains of transmission (isnad) received from his teachers, including narrations heard in Ascalon and other centers of learning . Key traditions transmitted in the work include the narration of Ali ibn Abi Talib concerning the Prophet's prohibition of temporary marriage and domestic donkeys at Khaybar, the traditions of Sabra al-Juhani establishing the perpetual ban, and supporting narrations from Salama ibn al-Akwa', Abdullah ibn Umar, and Abu Hurayra .
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