This is apropos of the article by Rafia Zakaria on April 14. The following points needs to be clarified

1. The author has tried to present temporary marriage or Mutaa (Seegah in Persian) as an innovation by the Islamic Republic of Iran after the Islamic revolution in 1979.

The fact is that Mutaa was in practice during the days of Prophet Muhammed (SAW) which was discontinued in the last days of the second Caliphate.

Ref (i) Sahih Muslim, (ii) Musnad Ahmed ibn Hanbal Vol. 3/304, and (iii) AsSunan al-Kubra Vol 7/237.

2. Comparing Misiyar with Mutaa is not correct as Mutaa was there from the days of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and Misiyar was established a few years back only in Saudi Arabia.

3. It is quoted by her that Seegah has been legalised even though there is no consensus among 12 Shia jurists regarding the basis of its legality.

4. To say that the Iranian government has used temporary marriage to give legal cover to extra-marital relationships is incorrect because it was a legal system prescribed by Islam from the beginning.

5. The writer has not been able to understand that Nikah is prescribed by Shariat-i-Islami and Nikahnama has been prescribed by the Government of Pakistan. There is a huge difference between the two. Nikah has its own pre-described conditions explained by Islamic laws and Nikahnama is a form required for legal formalities only.

6. Marriage contracts can't solve women's problems. The problem of women lies in wrong concepts developed by cultures and societies and not the Nikah or her Nikah rights. If males are imparted with proper teachings of Islam and made to understand the dignity of females as explained by Islam then none of the misunderstandings are going to take place between the two and females would never be degraded.

So the problem lies in our culture and the way people are brought up and the effect of the electronic media and not in Islamic laws or nikahnama.

SHABBIR H. MAISAMI
Zahra Academy
163-C, Block III P.E.C.H.S
Karachi