1 . أَخْبَرَنَا هَاشِمُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ الْخُجَنْدِيُّ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنْ مُتْعَةِ النِّسَاءِ فَقَالَ: أَقُولُ فِيهَا كَمَا قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ -يَعْنِي أَنَّهَا حَلَالٌ، قُلْتُ: إِنَّهُمْ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهَا مَنْسُوخَةٌ! قَالَ: إِنَّهَا مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ، وَالْقُرْآنُ لَا يُنْسَخُ بِالسُّنَّةِ، أَمَا قَرَأْتَ قَوْلَهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً﴾[1]؟!
Translation of the saying:
Hashim ibn Ubaid al-Khojandi informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about temporary marriage to women. So he said: “I say about it as ibn Abbas said,” meaning it is lawful. I said: “They claim that it has been abrogated!” He said: “It is from the Quran, and the Quran is not abrogated by the Sunnah. Have you not read the words of Allah Almighty, where He has said: ‘So those of women whom you enjoy, pay their compensation as an obligation’?!”
2 . أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الْهَرَوِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: وَيْلٌ لِلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّمَا الْمُتْعَةُ مِثْلُ الزِّنَا، وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْمُتْعَةَ وَحَرَّمَ الزِّنَا، أَيُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَقُومُوا ﴿كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ﴾[2]؟! قُلْتُ: أَيْنَ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْمُتْعَةَ؟ قَالَ: أَحَلَّهَا فِي كِتَابِهِ، إِذْ أَحَلَّ الْإِسْتِمْتَاعَ بِالنِّسَاءِ عَلَى أَجْرٍ مَفْرُوضٍ، فَقَالَ: ﴿فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً﴾، قُلْتُ: إِنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّمَا أَرَادَ بِهِ النِّكَاحَ، قَالَ: وَهَلِ الْمُتْعَةُ إِلَّا نِكَاحٌ؟! وَقَدْ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ النِّكَاحَ كُلَّهُ وَلَمْ يَسْتَثْنِ مِنْهُ مَا كَانَ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى، قُلْتُ: فَمَا الزِّنَا؟ قَالَ: جِمَاعٌ بِغَيْرِ عَقْدٍ وَلَا عِدَّةٍ.
Translation of the saying:
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Harawi informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say: “Woe to those who say that temporary marriage is like fornication, while Allah has made temporary marriage lawful and fornication unlawful. Do they want to rise ‘like the rising of one whom Satan has driven to madness by his touch’?!” I said: “Where has Allah made temporary marriage lawful?” He said: “He has made it lawful in His Book, where He has made lawful the enjoyment of women in return for obligatory compensation, and has said: ‘So those of women whom you enjoy, pay their compensation as an obligation.’” I said: “They say that His intended meaning of it has been nikah.” He said: “Is temporary marriage anything but nikah?! Allah has made all forms of nikah lawful and has not excluded from it a form of nikah that lasts for a specific period.” I said: “Then what is fornication?” He said: “Sexual intercourse without a contract and waiting period.”
3 . أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الشَّكُورِ بْنُ زُلْمَيَ الْوَرْدَكِيُّ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِلْمَنْصُورِ: إِنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ عُمَرَ حَرَّمَ الْمُتْعَةَ وَهُوَ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّهَا حَلَالٌ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ! قَالَ: مَا أَسْوَءَ ظَنَّهُمْ بِرَجُلٍ مِنَ الصَّحَابَةِ! إِنَّمَا نَهَى عَنْهَا نَهْيَ سِيَاسَةٍ لَا نَهْيَ تَشْرِيعٍ! إِنَّهُ لَمَّا بَلَغَهُ أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْعِرَاقِ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُ حَرَّمَ الْمُتْعَةَ، أَرْسَلَ رَجُلًا وَقَالَ: أَخْبِرْهُمْ أَنِّي لَمْ أُحَرِّمْهَا، وَلَيْسَ لِعُمَرَ أَنْ يُحَرِّمَ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ، وَلَكِنَّ عُمَرَ قَدْ نَهَى عَنْهَا.
Translation of the saying:
Abd al-Shakur ibn Zulmay al-Wardaki informed us, he said: I said to Mansoor: “They say that Umar prohibited temporary marriage, while he knew that it is permissible in the sight of Allah!” He said: “What a bad assumption they make about a man of the Sahabah! Indeed, he imposed a political prohibition on it, not a legislative prohibition! When he heard that the people of Iraq thought he had prohibited temporary marriage, he sent a man and said: ‘Tell them that I have not made it unlawful, and Umar is not allowed to make unlawful what Allah has made lawful, but rather Umar has prohibited it.’”
4 . أَخْبَرَنَا حَمْزَةُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ الْقُمِّيُّ، قَالَ: كَتَبْتُ إِلَى الْمَنْصُورِ: جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ، إِنِّي رَجُلٌ أَعْزَبُ، وَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ النِّكَاحُ فِي بَلَدِي كَخَرْطِ الْقَتَادِ، وَفِيهِ نِسَاءٌ يُتَمَتَّعُ مِنْهُنَّ، فَهَلْ تَأْذَنُ لِي فِي الْمُتْعَةِ؟ فَكَتَبَ إِلَيَّ فِي الْجَوَابِ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، ﴿ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ الْعَنَتَ مِنْكُمْ ۚ وَأَنْ تَصْبِرُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ﴾[3]، فَكَتَبْتُ إِلَيْهِ: جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ، قَدْ وَصَفْتُ لَكَ الْحَالَ، فَإِنْ رَأَيْتَ أَنْ تُجِيبَنِي بِجَوَابٍ مُفَصَّلٍ فَعَلْتَ مُتَفَضِّلًا، فَكَتَبَ: إِنَّ الْمُتْعَةَ الْيَوْمَ لَيْسَتْ كَمَا كَانَتْ قَبْلَ الْيَوْمِ، إِنَّهُنَّ كُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ يُؤْمَنَّ وَالْيَوْمَ لَا يُؤْمَنَّ، فَاسْأَلُوا عَنْهُنَّ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَاللَّوَاتِي قَدِ اتَّخَذْنَهَا عَمَلًا، فَإِنَّهُنَّ بَغَايَا أَوْ أَخَوَاتُهُنَّ، وَإِنْ تَصْبِرُوا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ، ﴿وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِينَ﴾[4].
Translation of the saying:
Hamzah ibn Ja‘far al-Qomi informed us, he said: I wrote to Mansoor: “May I be sacrificed for you, I am a single man, and marriage in my land has become as difficult as plucking thorns from a qatad tree[5], and there are women in it who engage in temporary marriage. So do you permit me to engage in temporary marriage?” Then he wrote to me in response: “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. ‘That is for those of you who fear (falling into) sin, and if you are patient, it is better for you, and Allah is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’” So I wrote to him: “May I be sacrificed for you, I have described the situation to you. So if you see fit to respond to me with a detailed answer, be kind enough to do so.” Then he wrote: “Temporary marriage today is not as it was in the past. Women were trustworthy in the past, but today they are not trustworthy. So inquire about them, and avoid women who have made temporary marriage their job, for they are prostitutes or their friends, and if you are patient, it is better for you, ‘and Allah loves those who are patient.’”
5 . أَخْبَرَنَا يُونُسُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْخَتْلَانِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: مَنِ اسْتَمْنَى بِيَدِهِ أَوْ تَمَتَّعَ وَلَهُ زَوْجَةٌ يَغْدُو عَلَيْهَا وَيَرُوحُ فَقَدْ أَسْرَفَ.
Translation of the saying:
Yunus ibn Abdullah al-Khatlani informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say: “Whoever masturbates with his hand or resorts to temporary marriage while having a wife to whom he has access day and night has indeed acted excessively.”
6 . أَخْبَرَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ الطِّهْرَانِيُّ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنِ الْمُتْعَةِ، أَهِيَ مِنَ الْأَرْبَعِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، قُلْتُ: إِنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ لَيْسَتْ مِنَ الْأَرْبَعِ، وَلَا مِنَ السَّبْعِينَ! قَالَ: مَنْ لَا يُغْنِيهِ الْأَرْبَعُ فَلَا يُغْنِيهِ السَّبْعُونَ!
Translation of the saying:
Hasan ibn Qasim al-Tehrani informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about temporary marriage, “Is it one of the four (wives)?” He said: “Yes.” I said: “They say it is not one of the four, nor of the seventy!” He said: “One whom the four do not suffice, seventy do not suffice him either!”
7 . أَخْبَرَنَا صَالِحُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ السَّبْزَوَارِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: فِي الْمُتْعَةِ طَلَاقٌ مَا لَمْ يَنْقَضِ الْأَجَلُ، فَإِذَا انْقَضَى الْأَجَلُ فَفُرْقَةٌ بِغَيْرِ طَلَاقٍ.
Translation of the saying:
Salih ibn Muhammad al-Sabzawari informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say: “There is divorce in temporary marriage as long as its term does not expire, so when its term expires, the separation is without divorce.”
8 . أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الشِّيرَازِيُّ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنْ عِدَّةِ الْمُتَمَتَّعِ بِهَا، فَقَالَ: حَيْضَةٌ تَسْتَبْرِئُ بِهَا رَحِمَهَا، وَالْأَفْضَلُ أَنْ تَعْتَدَّ بِحَيْضَتَيْنِ، لِكَيْلَا تُشْبِهَ الزَّانِيَةَ.
Translation of the saying:
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Shirazi informed us, he said: I asked Mansoor about iddah of a woman contracted in temporary marriage. So he said: “One menstrual period with which she establishes that there is no pregnancy, and it is better for her to wait for two menstrual periods so that she does not resemble an adulteress.”
Explanation of the saying:
To read an explanation of these important sayings in the light of the Quran and the Sunnah, refer to Q&A 86.