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Power of Ambiguity: Cultural Improvisations on the Theme of Temporary Marriage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Shahla Haeri
Shahla Haeri*
Affiliation:
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
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Extract

Law…is local knowledge; local not just as to place, time, class, and variety of issues, but as to accent--vernacular characterizations of what happens connected to vernacular imaginings of what can.

The objective of this paper is to describe cultural improvisations on the theme of temporary marriage, mut'a (sigheh in colloquial Persian) in Iran; I wish to bring to light the relationship between the law of the institution of temporary marriage, and certain common motifs of behavior of the Iranian people. I do not presume that the following is an exhaustive compilation of such improvisations; rather, it consists of those that I have been able to identify. While the terminology used is partly mine and partly indigenous, the descriptions of sigheh variations is entirely indingenous.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , Spring 1986 , pp. 123 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1986

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Footnotes

I am grateful to the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies for a predoctoral grant that enabled me to go to Iran in 1981-82 and collect the data for this research. I am also grateful to Professor John G. Kennedy, Kaveh Safa-Isfahani and Victoria Joralemon for their useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

References

Notes

1. Geertz, Clifford, Local Knowledge (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1984), p. 215Google Scholar.

2. Mut'a marriage has been translated as "conditional," "usufruct," "temporary," and "fixed-term," marriage. Although the correct translation of the term is that of "marriage of pleasure," the term temporary marriage has been adopted here, for it is a more accurate translation of the Persian term for mut'a marriage, which is izdivaj-i muwaqat.

3. Bateson, Gregory, Steps to an Ecology of Hind (New York: Ballantine Books, 1972), pp. 177-93Google Scholar; Geertz, C., "Ideology as a Cultural System," in The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1973), pp. 193-233Google Scholar.

4. See, for example, Ayatollah M. Mutahhari, Nizam-i Huaug-i Zan dar Islam (Legal Rights of Women in Islam), 8th ed. (Qom: Sadra Press, 1353/1974); and "The Right of Women in Islam: Fixed-Term Marriage," in Mahjubih (an English Journal for Women, originally published in London) (Tehran, 1981), pp. 52-56; Ayatollah A. Mishkini, Izdivaj dar Islam (Marriage in Islam), trans. A. Jamati (1353/1974).

5. Kashif ul-Ghita', M. H., 'Ain-i Ma (Our Custom), trans. Nasir-i Makarm-i Shirazi (Qom: Hadaf Publishing, 1347/1968), p. 268.Google Scholar

6. See, Bahunar, Hujjat ul-Islam M. J., Ta'limat-i Dini (Religious Education) (Tehran: Ministry of Education, Davar-Panah Press, 1360/1981), pp. 37-47Google Scholar; Bihishti, Ayatollah M. H., Shinakht-i Islam (Knowing Islam) (Tehran: Office of Islamic Culture, 198-?), pp. 329-335Google Scholar; and personal communications with several high-ranking Shi'i leaders.

7. Tusi, Shaykh Muhammad H., An-Nahayih. trans. Danish Pazhuh, M. I. (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1343/1964), pp. 497-502Google Scholar; Muhaqqiq Najmiddin Abulqasim Hilli, Sharay' ul-Islam (Islamic Law), trans. Yarshater, E. and Danish Pazhuh, M. T. (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1968), p. 524Google Scholar; Abu, Shaykh 'Abdollah Muhammd Shahid-i Sani, Khudamuz-i Luma'ih (Luma'ih for short), Vol. 2, trans. Khawnsari, Haj Ghazanfar (Tehran: Nur Press, 1336/1957), p. 130Google Scholar.

8. The contemporary ulama use the term mahr. brideprice, in referring to this form of marriage payment. However, the Qur'anic term is ajr, which literally means reward or consideration. Whether marriage payment in a temporary marriage should be termed ajr or mahr has been the subject of much controversy and disputes between the Sunni and Shi'i ulama. See the Ayatollah Mutahhari, 1981, p. 54.

9. Tusi, An-Nahayih. p. 501.

10. Hilli, Sharay'. p. 478.

11. Li'an. or "oath of damnation," is an awesome procedure, requiring oath taking by both a man who accuses his child of bastardry, and the woman who denies his accusation. Should the man insist on his accusations, and the case is taken to a court, they are then obliged to "swear" before a judge as to the accuracy of their claims. Their marital relationship is consequently severed forever. If it is proved that the woman has been adulterous, she will be stoned. If, on the other hand, the husband's accusations turn out to be false, he will receive 80 lashes. See Hilli, Sharay'. pp. 939-55; Tusi, An-Nahayih. pp. 532-37.

12. See Moore, Sally F., Law as Process (London: Routledge, Kegan and Paul, 1978), pp. 32-53Google Scholar.

13. See Nader, Laura, "The Ethnology of Law," in Supplement to American Anthropologist 67 (2) (1965): 3-32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14. Coulson, Noel, A History of Islamic Law (Ilkey, Yorkshire: The Scholar Press, Ltd., 1964)Google Scholar; Schacht, Joseph, The Origin of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (London: Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1950)Google Scholar; Rahman, Fazl, Islam (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966)Google Scholar.

15. Moore, Law as Process: Collier, Jane F., "Legal Processes," in The Annual Review of Anthropology 4 (1975): 121-144CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Nader, "The Ethnology of Law."

16. Coulson, A History...; Schacht, The Origin...; Gibb, H. A. R., Islamic Society and the West: A Study of the Impact of Western Civilization on Muslim Culture in the Near East (London: Oxford University Press)Google Scholar; Gallagher, E., "Contemporary Islam: The Plateau of Particularism, Problems of Religion and Nationalism in Iran," in American Universities Field Staff Service, S.W. Series, 15 (2) (1966): 1-25Google Scholar.

17. The so-called "milk sibling," riza'i, is another legal and cultural means of creating mahram/namahram relationships. Its discussion, however, is beyond the scope of this chapter. See Hilli's Sharay'. pp. 458-72; Ayatollah Khomeini's Tuzih ul-Masa'il, problem numbers (henceforth p.#) 2462-2486.

18. Haeri, Shahla, "Women, Law, and Social Change in Iran," in Women in Contemporary Muslim Countries, ed. Smith, Jane I. (London: Bucknell University Press, 1981), pp. 215-16Google Scholar.

19. C. Geertz, Local Knowledge; Kidder, R. L., "Toward an Integrated Theory of Imposed Law," in The Imposition of Law, eds. Burman, S. and Harrell-Bond (New York: Academic Press, Inc.), pp. 289-306Google Scholar.

20. Personal communication, Tehran, Fall 1981.

21. For an apparently unlikely place such as Mecca and the pilgrims' indulgence in temporary marriages during the holy months, see Goldziher, I., Mohammad and Islam, trans. K. Chambers Seelye (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1917), p. 253.

22. Turner, Victor, Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors (New York: Cornell University Press, 1974), pp. 166-231.Google Scholar

23. Mut'a, according to Robertson Smith (1903) is that type of marriage which "nobody needs to know anything about." See, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia (Boston: Beacon Press, p. 35; see also, Tusi, An-Nahayih. p. 498.

24. Cited by Mullah Qazvini, Akhund M. A., Siyagh-i 'Uqud (Forms of Contracts) (Tehran: 'Ilmiyih Islamiyih Press, n.d.), p. 50.Google Scholar

25. Curzon, G. N., Persia and the Persian Question (London: Longman, Green and Co., 1982), Vol. 1, pp. 164-65Google Scholar.

26. On the savab of matchmaking, see Ardihali, M. H., Yik Silsilih Danistaniha-yi Zanashu'i az Nazar-i Islam (A Series of Marital Issues from the View Point of Islam) (Tehran: Iqbal Press, n.d.)Google Scholar.

27. For another variation on the same theme, see Wishhard, J. G., Twenty Years in Persia (London: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1908), p. 159.Google Scholar

28. Stern, Gertrude H., Marriage in Early Islam (London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1939), p. 155Google Scholar. See also, the Qur'an. 33: 49-51.

29. Hilli, Sharay', p. 438; see also "Zan dar Islam" (Women in Islam), in Kaveh (West Germany, 1354/1975) (66): 50.

30. Levy, Rubin, The Social Structure of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1957), p. 116.Google Scholar

31. Cited in Hujjat ul-Islam S. H. Yusifi Yakki, Mut'a dar Islam (Mut'a in Islam), trans. N. A. Nazil (Damascus, 1342/1963), p. 12.

32. Ibid., p. 27.

33. Wilson, Sir A., Southwest Persia, A Political Officer's Diary, 1907-14 (London: Oxford University Press, 1941), p. 290.Google Scholar

34. Hussain Sa'adat-i Nuri, Armaghan, 37 (3): 122.

35. Hussain Pizhman, Yaghma, 18: 156.

36. Wilson, Southwest Persia..., p. 290.

37. Morier, James, The Adventures of Haji Baba of Ispahan (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo and Co., 1855), p. 303.Google Scholar

38. Wilson, Southwest Persia..., p. 10-11; Wilson does not specify the religious background of the said woman. Religiously and legally Muslim women are not permitted to marry non-Muslim men, be it temporary or permanent.

39. For another variation, see A. S. Mehdevi, Persian Adventure (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953), pp. 135-47.

40. Natiq, Homa, "Farang va Farangi Ma'abi," in Alifba, Vol. 6 (Tehran, 1356/1977), p. 60.Google Scholar

41. Ibid., p. 59.

42. Hilli, Sharay'..., p. 528; Tusi, An-Nahayih. p. 457.

43. For another variation, see Wishard, J. C., Twenty Years in Persia (London: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1908), pp. 211-12.Google Scholar

44. Haji (feminine, hajiah) is an honorific title afforded to those who perform their pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. It may also be used casually to refer to an old or middle-aged man of some wealth.

45. Sheil, Lady M. L., Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia (London: J. Murray, Albemarie St., 1985), pp. 203-04.Google Scholar

46. For a dramatic presentation, see Kupper, Hilda, A Witch in My Heart (London: Oxford University Press, 1970)Google Scholar.

47. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Tuzhih al-Masa'il. n.d., P.#2421, 2437.

48. Khatib-Chahidi has translated this term as "marriage of convenience," but I think "permissible familiarity" is closer to the actual usage. See "Sexual Prohibitions, Shared Space and Fictive Marriage in Shi'ite Iran," in Women and Space: Ground Rules and Social Maps, ed. S. Ardner (London: Croom Helm in Association with the Oxford University Women's Studies Committee, 1981), pp. 112-35.

49. Sachico Murata, Izdivaj-i Muyaggat va Asar-i Ijtima'i an (Temporary Marriage and Its Social Consequences) (Unpublished Masters thesis, University of Tehran, Divinity School, 1352/1973), p. 54; see also, Tusi, An-Nahayih. p. 502; Khomeini, P.#2423.

50. Islamic law does not have age limitations for the first marriage of either sex.

51. See also Khatib-Chahidi, "Sexual Prohibitions...."

52. For another variation on the state-sponsored arranged temporary marriages between Iranian widows and Syrian Shi'i men see New York Times, July 5, 1985, pp. 1-2.

53. Apparently the extent of these sigheh marriages became so alarming that the Ayatollah Khomeini had to issue a new edict, fatwa, declaring the necessity of a father's permission for all forms of sigheh marriages, pp. 300-01.

54. The Ayatollah Ray Shahri Gilani's television show of 1980-81, and the Hujjat ul-Islam Hashimi Rafsanjani's Friday prayers, are but two examples.

55. The Ayatollah M. Mutahhari, Legal Rights of Women..., 1974, and "The Rights of Women in...," 1981.

56. M. Hujjat ul-Islam Bahunar, Ta'limat-i..., 1981.

57. Bahunar, ibid., pp. 37-42.

58. From the point of view of Shi'i Islam, sexual intercourse means "penetration," dukchul, either vaginal, eubulan, or annal, duburan. See Hilli, Hukhtasar-i Nafi', trans. M. T. Danish Pazhuh (Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1964), p. 241; Luma'ih, p. 140; Ayatollah Khomeini, pp. 450-53.

59. Buhunar, ibid., p. 40; see also, Sani'i, S., Bihdasht-i Izdivaj az Nazar-i Islam (The Health of Marriage from the Viewpoint of Islam) (Isfahan: Firdusi Press, 1342/1963)Google Scholar; 'Alavi, Sayyid E., Hall-i Mushkil-i Jinsi Javanan (Solving the Sexual Problem of the Youth) (Tehran: Ghadir Press, 1353/1974)Google Scholar; Hakim, M. T., Izdivaj-i Muvaqqat va Naqsh-i an dar Hall-i Mushkilat-i Jinsi (Temporary Marriage and Its Role in Solving Sexual Problems), trans. Qazvini, Haydari (Tehran: Burhan Press, 1350/1971)Google Scholar.

60. The idea of temporary marriage, however, is still pretty much alive, particularly because of the Iran-Iraq war. See, the interview with the Hujjat ul-Islam Hashimi Rafsanjani in Zan-i Ruz, No. 1045 (Azar/November 1364/1985), pp. 4-5, 52-53, 58.

61. Perhaps this variation of sieheh marriage should not be classified as a type per se. This informant was the only one who told me of its possibility. However, I included it in my typology in order to underline the malleability of the institution and the flexibility of its boundaries.

62. According to the specific teachings of Islamic law, the consent of partners are essential for validity of a marriage contract. While in theory no mature Shi'i woman can be forced into a marriage contract (with some exceptions made for her father), under special circumstances this provision may be overruled. For example, a slave owner has the right to contract a marriage on behalf of his ward, be they male or female (Tusi, An-Nahayih: Hilli, Sharay'..., pp. 528-29). Likewise, war captives and heathens are considered wards of the state, and therefore, can be given in marriage without their consent. Since many of to-be-executed women are accused of being "corruption of earth," and infidels, they are considered wards of the state and thus can be legally forced into a contract of marriage.

63. See also Women's Struggle in Iran (a publication of Women's Commission of the Iranian Student Association in the U.S.), September 1982, p. 3.

64. See also Burgel, J. C., "Love, Lust, and Longing: Eroticism in Early Islam as Reflected in Literary Sources," in Society and the Sexes in Medieval Islam, ed. Marsot, A. L. S. (Malibu, Calif.: UNDENA Publications, 1979)Google Scholar.