Zawaj al-Misyar
4-2-2000 | IslamWeb
Question:
I need to know about Zawaj almsiar and Zawaj almota'a.
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Zawaj al-Misyar ( a kind of marriage) has two forms: 1) Zawaj al-Misyar means contracting a marriage between a man and woman. This contract meets all conditions of normal marriage such as presence of woman's guardian and two honest witnesses. But, as for rights of housing and financial support, a husband is not responsible for them all, since his wife will live in her own home, where he comes to her as a husband. In addition, she is requested to provide for her own needs. 2 ) The second form of Zawaj al-Misyar is a contract in which a husband is responsible only for financial support of his wife's needs provided that he will not give her an equitable share concerning overnight stay with other wives. This form of Zawaj al-Misyar is the most common one since husband wants to keep it secret, especially from the knowledge of his wife and children in order to avoid any possible problems. As for the first form of Zawaj al-Misyar, we think that a woman's wish to protect herself from illegal relations as well as to be endowed with a child leads her to it (Zawaj al-Misyar). Thereupon, we state that both forms are valid and lawful. In addition to dropping some rights by one of the two spouses has no influence on this kind of marriage as long as it is done with consent and there is some interest before or after making the contract. In fact, Zawaj al-Misyar grants both sides some benefits such as protecting honor and chastity as well as preventing motives of corruption, especially on the side of spinsters. By the way, this form of marriage has some shortcomings such as disagreements concerning heritage and other rights, which might arise after the husband's demise. This leads some scholars of Islam to prevent Zawaj al_Misyar. But, most scholars of Islam legalize Zawaj al-Misyar since it meets all conditions of valid and lawful marriage. Please refer to Fatwa no. 82221 to know about Ziwaj Mut'ah . Allah knows best.