Other terms used to imply this type of marriage are al-nikah al-munqati' (discontinued marriage), al-nikah al-muwaqqat (temporary marriage), istimta', and related word tamattu'. (See: http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/muta/3.htm)
According to classical Muslim Scholars, Nikah-e-Mut'a is one of two marriage forms that is authorised in the Qur'an. The other form Nikah e Daaimi is simply called Nikah, hence Nikah-e-Mut'a is popularly shortened to simply "Mut'a".
The Islamic term Mut'a, meaning joy, has two connotations:
- Nikah-e-Mut'a — A Qur'anic Marriage form
- Mut'a of Hajj — Relaxation between a Umrah and a Hajj
Those two terms should not be confused with each other, as they are separate things and the Islamic Term "Mut'a" can denote one or both of the Islamic Term Mut'a of Hajj and the Islamic Term Nikah-e-Mut'a.
Waheed-uz-Zaman, a Sunni scholar, writes in his Sanan Ibn-e-Maja, volume 2, page 76, published by Mehtab Company, Urdu Bazaar Lahore.
"Nikah-e-Mut'a is to do Nikah for a preset time period, for example, one day, two days, one week, one month, one year, or three years etc."
Sachiko Murata, a scholar of Theology from Tehran University, writes in his MA dissertation “Temporary Marriage in Islamic Law” (Published in Al-Serat, Volume, 13, Issue 1, in 1979):
"Though there are important differences between Twelve-Imam Shi'ism and Sunnism on the level of the principles of the religion (usul al-din), on the level of the sharia and fiqh or jurisprudence there are surprisingly few places where Shi'i or 'Ja'fari' law differs from all four Sunni schools, the Hanaf'i, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i. Perhaps the most important difference occurs in relation to the institution of mut'a, or 'temporary marriage'. The Sunni authorities agree that mut'a was permitted by the Prophet at certain points during his lifetime, but they maintain that in the end he prohibited it completely. In contrast the Shi'is maintain that the Prophet did not ban it, and they cite numerous hadith from Sunni as well as Shi'i sources to prove this. Having established its legality, they then devote tremendous care and attention to defining its legal status and all the rules and regulations connected with it." (See: http://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/muta/1.htm)
There are several recorded oral traditions (hadith) from Hazrat Muhammad (S) used either to prove or to disprove the legality of Nikah-e-Mut'a.
All Muslims believe that the Qur'an is complemented by the way and examples set by Muhammad (S), this is called "(his) way" (Arabic: Sunnah). Initially, much of the Sunnah was transmitted between people orally. Although some collection are claimed to be early written reports of the Sunnah, most of it remained in oral traditions until 800 AD. This produced chains of narrators that spanned several generations and also several traditions that became considered as fabricated. Since the names of the narrators were included in the oral traditions themselves, the Scholars used different methods to determine which ones to trust and regard authentic. This became known as the Science of hadith (Ilm Al-Hadith).
Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) ruled the Muslim community from 634 (AD) to 644 (AD). While Shi'i view him as an unprincipled usurper, Sunni view him as a Rightly Guided Caliph (Calipha-e-Rashid). As narrated in the Hadith of Hazrat Umar's (RA) speech of forbidding Mut'a, Umar (RA) banned "Mut'a" during his time as Caliph.
While Shi'i are prone to interpret that Hazrat Umar (RA) was the first one to historically ban Nikah-e-Mut'a and Mut'a of Hajj, Sunnis view that Nikah-e-Mut'a had already been abrogated by Hazrat Muhammad (S) and Hazrat Umar (RA) was merely re-enforcing Muhammad’s (S) practice.Sunni Muslims deem Nikah-e-Mut'a to have been abrogated (Arabic: Naskh) by some teachings of Hazrat Muhammad (S) that were not part of the Quran, while Shi'i Muslims disagree. Hence, according to Shi'i jurisprudence, it is a presently legal marriage form.
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