Khaled Al-Sulaiman

Okaz newspaper

 

Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, described the misfar marriage (a marriage relationship concluded during one’s travel abroad) as something that has its advantages and quick benefits. He said such marriages, however, do not fulfill the basic goals of the institution and will not lead to building a stable family that is the cornerstone of a coherent society.

 

Many people who I know seek such relationships in countries where they spend their vacation. They convince themselves that by entering into such marriage contracts they can escape from their conscience that bites them when fulfilling their carnal desires through illegal means.



They know that their temporary legal wife was the wife of another man and perhaps still is, and would become the wife of yet another later. She is just a commodity for sale. They are also aware that such women are like real estate that does not bring a lucrative income except when the brokers increase its value by repeatedly changing hands.



A friend who had experienced misfar marriage told me about his young wife’s blunt reply when he informed her of his intention to divorce her at the end of his vacation. She told him that she was relieved to hear the news because this marriage was just a source of income as far as she and her poor family were concerned.



Whenever a man divorces his misfar wife, the woman would be in a haste to complete her iddat (the waiting period prescribed by the Shariah before a divorcee could legally enter into another marriage relationship) because she is eager to get her dowry from the next marriage.



Yet some of these young women do not even complete the iddat period.

As far as these women and their parents are concerned, misfar marriage is a just another way to go around the religious prohibition on sexual relationships outside marriage.

Some men fall in this trap thinking that these women are permissible to them when in fact they are victims of a ploy in the flesh market to attract all segments of customers.