Qur'anic Origin of Nikah-e-Mut'a (Part 1)

Some Muslims believe that this institution was established by God through Muhammad (S) in the Qur'an. Its single mention in the Qur'an is verse 4:24.

The Qur'an, chapter 4 (An-Nisa), verse 24

The verse can be broken into three parts:

1. And (also forbidden are) all married women except those whom your right hands possess (this is) Allah's ordinance to you,
2. and lawful for you are (all women) besides those, provided that you seek (them) with your property, taking (them) in marriage not committing fornication.
3. Then as to those whom you profit by, give them their dowries as appointed; and there is no blame on you about what you mutually agree after what is appointed; surely Allah is Knowing, Wise.
   — translated by M. H. Shakir

According to Sachiko Murata, this verse was revealed towards the beginning of the Prophet's stay in Medina. (See: http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/muta/5.htm) However, According to Sahih Muslim the event of revelation was during the battle of Hunayn in 9 AH (631 CE).

According to Answering-Ansar.org, the first part of the verse is a continuation from the previous verse. The middle part states that the non-mentioned women are lawful, provided that the criteria for marriage are fulfilled. The last part of the verse addresses Nikah-e-Mut'a, and therefore is the entire verse known as "the verse of Mut'a". (See http://answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/en/chap3.php)

Ibn Kathir, a 14th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes in his Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim:

Allah said: "(Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess.) The Ayah means, you are prohibited from marrying women who are already married, (except those whom your right hands possess) except those whom you acquire through war, for you are allowed such women after making sure they are not pregnant. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Sa`id al-­Khudri said, "We captured some women from the area of Awtas who were already married, and we disliked having sexual relations with them because they already had husbands. So, we asked the Prophet about this matter, and this Ayah was revealed: "(Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess). Consequently, we had sexual relations with these women."

This is the wording collected by At-Tirmizi An-Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir and Muslim in their Sihah. (See: http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:pBBUYhiUz4wJ:www.tafsir.com/default.asp%3Fsid%3D4%26tid%3D10829+%22Ma%27bad+al-Juhani%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=21)

The second part is often referred to in the Muslim controversies related to Nikah-e-Mut'a by Salafi Sunnis to mean that Nikah-e-Mut'a is forbidden, since this verse demands chatiry, implying that Nikah-e-Mut'a is immoral. (See http://answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/en/chap4.php)

Tabari in his Tafsir writes under this verse a hadith from Mujahid the phrase "Then give those of these women you have enjoyed the agreed dower" means the temporary marriage (nikah-e-mut‘a). Sunni Scholars, however, say 4:24 does not permit temporary marriage. The refutation of this is the fact that prior to this Allah mentions the women whom a man is forbidden to marry, then he mentions what is permissible for him, and He commands the man to give to the woman he marries her mahr. Shaykh Munnajjid, a Shi'i scholar, argues that is not relevant because the individual verse permits Istamta'tum by means of contract. The preceding and anteceding verses give the guidelines as to who is permissible to marry.