As explained above, a woman who has married temporary is either considered a “wife”, in which case she is one of the four wives and has their rights and duties, or is not considered a “wife”, in which case sexual relation with her is not permissible; because God has clearly said: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ ۝ إِلَّا عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ ۝ فَمَنِ ابْتَغَى وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ﴾[1]; “And those who guard their private parts, except with their wives or those bondwomen in their possession, then whoever seeks other than it, they are the transgressors”, whereas the married woman in temporary marriage certainly is not considered a bondwoman and with this description, if she is not considered from the wives too, inevitably is considered from ﴿وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ﴾; “other than it” that seeking it is forbidden.

Yes, it may be said that the married woman in temporary marriage is considered from “the wives”, but the first thing comes to the mind from the word “the wives” in the book of God, is married women in permanent marriage and with this description, the inclusion of all their rights and duties on the married woman in temporary marriage is not proven and, consequently, the inclusion of each requires a specific reason, whereas this statement is against the rule; because the rejection of the mind to the married women in permanent marriage when hearing the word “the wives” is only due to the predominance of their existence or more completeness of their nature, which is a primitive rejection and does not harm the generality of the word and with this description, the rule is that all their rights and duties include the married woman in temporary marriage, unless the right or duty is waived because of a reason from the book of God or a legitimate agreement between the couple.

Therefore, the married woman in temporary marriage is definitely considered one of the four wives; because God has not deemed her separate from them, rather He has explicitly said: ﴿فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ۚ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلَّا تَعُولُوا﴾[2]; “Then marry women as seem good to you, two and three and four; then if you fear that you do not act justly, then one or your bondwoman, it more likely that you do not oppress” and has said: ﴿وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنْكُمْ طَوْلًا أَنْ يَنْكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَمِنْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ مِنْ فَتَيَاتِكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۚ﴾[3]; “And anyone of you who is not able to marry free believing women, then (marries) those of your believing  bondwomen whom you possess” and this is explicit abut it that marriage is legitimate either with a maximum of four free women or with bondwomen and the third state is not legitimate and with this description, the married woman in temporary marriage is either considered one of the four free women or one of the bondwomen, whereas she is not considered one of the bondwomen; because she is a free woman and has gotten married by marriage, and consequently it is not possible for her to join the bondwomen, even by citing the narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt that say: «هُنَّ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْإِماءِ»[4]; “they are as bondwomen”; because they are Wahid narrations and contrary to the principle and the appearance, but also contrary to the book of God, and they are in conflict with other narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt that say: «هِيَ مِنَ الْأَرْبَعِ»[5]; “She is from the four women”!

As a result, it is not permissible to gather more than four wives, even if all of them are temporary, and this is the saying of Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani may God protect him, and according to precaution; as one of our helpers informed us, he said:

«سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنِ الْمُتْعَةِ أَهِيَ مِنَ الْأَرْبَعِ؟ قالَ: نَعَمْ، قُلْتُ: إِنَّهُمْ یَقُولُونَ لَیْسَتْ مِنَ الْأَرْبَعِ وَ لا مِنَ السَّبْعِینَ! قالَ: مَنْ لا یُغْنِیهِ الْأَرْبَعُ فَلا یُغْنِیهِ السَّبْعُونَ»; “I asked Mansoor about mut’ah that is it one of the four? He said: Yes, I said: These people say it is not from the four, rather not from seventy! He said: Whoever the four do not make him without need, the seventy do not make him without need too”!

Please note the following:

1. The Couple in temporary marriage separate as the term expires; because it is the requirement of it being temporary, but does divorce happen in it? Not after its term expiration; because divorce means freeing the wife from the bond of marriage, and after the expiration of its period, there is no marriage left so that it is possible to free the wife from its bond, but before its term expiration, yes; because it is possible to free the wife from the bond of marriage in this case; in such a way that the husband gives up the remaining time for the wife and frees her from the bond of marriage with an explicit word. Therefore, divorce occurs in temporary marriage before its term expiration; because its occurrence in this case is possible and is subject to the generalities and applications of Quran and the Sunnah regarding the divorce of the wife; considering that the wife in temporary marriage in terms of being a wife is no different from the wife in permanent marriage, and with this description, her divorce takes place whenever possible, rather one can say whoever whose marriage is correct, her divorce is also correct, except in cases where her divorce is considered achieving what is already achieved; like the curse between the couple and the apostasy of one of them, which is legitimately enough to separate the two from each other. Yes, it has been claimed that the supporters of the permissibility of temporary marriage have consensus on non-occurrence of divorce in it before its term expiration, and this, to the opinion of people like Sharif Murtaza[1], is a sufficient reason for non-occurrence of divorce in it before its term expiration, but to the opinion of Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani[2], consensus, in this respect that it is based on incomplete induction, does not cause knowledge, and therefore it cannot allocate the generalities and applications of Quran and the Sunnah and with this description, divorce in temporary marriage before its term expiration occurs; as one of our helpers informed us, he said:

«سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ یَقُولُ: فِي الْمُتْعَةِ طَلاقٌ ما لَمْ یَنْقَضِ الْأَجَلُ فَإِذَا انْقَضَی الْأَجَلُ فَفُرْقَةٌ بِغَیْرِ طَلاقٍ»; “I heard Mansoor say: There is divorce in mut’ah until its term has not expired, so when its term has expired, the separation is without divorce.”

And following the divorce, Khula’ is also possible in it, and it is in this way that the wife, due to her dislike toward the husband, gives up a part of the marriage portion or all of it or other wealth in exchange for him divorcing her. Therefore, the wife in temporary marriage before the expiration of its term, if she dislikes the husband, can satisfy him with her divorce by spending wealth; as God has said: ﴿وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَأْخُذُوا مِمَّا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ شَيْئًا إِلَّا أَنْ يَخَافَا أَلَّا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا افْتَدَتْ بِهِ ۗ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ فَلَا تَعْتَدُوهَا ۚ وَمَنْ يَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ﴾[3]; “And it is not lawful for you to take any part of what you have given the wives, unless both (the wife and the husband) fear that they do not keep within the limits of God, then if you fear that they do not keep within the limits of God, there is no problem that the wife gives something as ransom (so that the husband divorces her), these are the limits of God, so do not exceed them and whoever exceeds the limits of God, they are the very oppressors”.

2. Iddah in temporary marriage before its term expiration, like the iddah in permanent marriage, is three purities; because the verse ﴿وَالْمُطَلَّقَاتُ يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنْفُسِهِنَّ ثَلَاثَةَ قُرُوءٍ ۚ﴾[4]; “and divorced women wait three menstruation periods” is general and includes both, and the iddah of the divorce for a woman who does not menstruate is three months in both; because the verse ﴿وَاللَّائِي يَئِسْنَ مِنَ الْمَحِيضِ مِنْ نِسَائِكُمْ إِنِ ارْتَبْتُمْ فَعِدَّتُهُنَّ ثَلَاثَةُ أَشْهُرٍ وَاللَّائِي لَمْ يَحِضْنَ ۚ﴾[5]; “And for such of your women as despair of menstruation, if you doubt, their iddah is three months, and those who have not menstruated” is general and includes both, and the iddah of the divorce for pregnant women is childbirth in both; because the verse ﴿وَأُولَاتُ الْأَحْمَالِ أَجَلُهُنَّ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ ۚ﴾[6]; “And for the pregnant women their iddah is that they deliver their burden” is general and includes both, and the iddah of death is four months and ten days in both; because the verse ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنْفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا ۖ﴾[7]; “And for men of you who die and leave wives behind, their wives wait for four months and ten days” is general and includes both, but the iddah of separation in temporary marriage with the expiration of its term is a matter for consideration, and the well-known have considered it to be the iddah of a bondwoman which is two menstruation periods; because separation in it with the expiration of the term is not considered divorce so that it includes the wife in the verse, whereas although she is not included in the verse, she is not a bondwoman either to be included in the law of bondwoman, and her comparison with bondwoman is comparison of incommensurables. With this description, there is no reason to accredit specified iddah for her; because God has determined only the iddah of the divorce and the iddah of death and has not determined the iddah of separation with term expiration and with this description, the iddah of separation with term expiration is from the respect of purifying the womb so that the religious knowledge about non-delivery be achieved, it is one menstruation period and according to precaution, two menstruation periods; as one of our helpers informed us, he said:

«سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنْ عِدَّةِ الْمُتَمَتَّعِ بِها، فَقالَ: حَیْضَةٌ تَسْتَبْرِئُ بِها رَحِمَها وَ الْأَفْضَلُ أَنْ تَعْتَدَّ بِحَیْضَتَیْنِ لِكَیْلا تُشْبِهَ الزّانِیَةَ»; “I asked Mansoor about the iddah of a woman who has entered into mut’ah, so he said: One menstruation period with which she purifies his womb, and it is better for her to observe the iddah with two menstruation periods so that she does not look like an adulterous woman”.