Misyaar marriage is detrimental to women and bring them huge humiliation; it can be extremely risky, offers them no legal protection—in fact, it makes them legally vulnerable—and creates numerous social challenges due to its often secretive nature. There are many other negative aspects of Misyaar marriage that affect women. It has become a tool in hands of Muslim men to blackmail women to give up their rights.
Why do women still agree to Misyaar Marriage despite humiliation? (The same REASONS as those are present in Mut'ah Marriage)
Misyaar Marriage cannot be declared Haram while it roots lie directly in the Quran and Muhammad himself practiced it:
Muslim scholars are fully aware of the harmful consequences of Misyaar marriage. They ensure that their own sisters, daughters, and mothers do not engage in it, and they issue numerous warnings to other Muslim women against participating in Misyaar marriages (source). However, they are unable to declare it Haram (forbidden) and openly prohibit it because the roots of Misyaar are found directly in the Quran, and Muhammad himself practiced it.
It all started when Muhammad grew stronger and wealthier in the later stage of the Medinan period. He began marrying multiple young and beautiful women, despite his own age ranging between 58 and 63 years. The women he married were generally between the ages of 17 and 35, making Muhammad double, triple, or even four times their age. Islamic traditions highlight that these women, such as Juwayria, Safiyyah, Rehana, Zaynab, and Umm Habiba, were not only young but also exceptionally beautiful.
However, Sawdah was the only wife of Muhammad who was older than the newlywed ladies, though still younger than Muhammad himself. In the presence of his young and attractive wives, Muhammad desired to part ways with Sawdah. Muhammad had married Sawdah in Mecca during a time of weakness and poverty when he faced opposition from the entire city.
To fulfill his wish of separating from Sawdah, Muhammad once again invoked revelation and claimed that Allah had sent the following verse:
(Quran 33:51) You, [O Muhammad], may put aside whom you will of them or take to yourself whom you will.
Therefore, after the revelation of this verse, the only wife whom Muhammad chose to divorce, was the old lady Sawdah. It was despite the fact that Sawdah was serving Muhammad from the time of Mecca, when Muhammad was poor and weak, while other wives were new, and they hardly lived with Muhammad for a few years in Medina.
According to Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Verse 4:128), upon learning of Muhammad's intention to divorce her, Sawdah sought refuge in 'Aisha's house. When Muhammad arrived, Sawdah expressed her willingness to give up her turn to 'Aisha but pleaded with him not to divorce her. Muhammad readily agreed and promptly claimed the revelation of the following verse:
(Quran 4:128-129) And if a woman fears from her husband contempt or evasion, there is no sin upon them if they make terms of settlement between them (i.e. woman agrees upon leaving some of her rights) … And you will never be able to do Justice (Arabic: تَعْدِلُوْا) between wives, even if you should strive [to do so].
Furthermore, do you notice the contradiction? Previously, the author of the Quran (Muhammad) had established the condition of justice ('adl) for having multiple wives (Quran 4:3). However, in this particular verse (Quran 4:128-129), he permits a husband to manipulate his wives by threatening divorce, thus pressuring them into relinquishing their rights in the name of a settlement. This undermines the requirement of justice, as the husband retains control over the right to divorce, resulting in settlements that consistently favor him.
(Quran 4:3) If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.
Practically, the verse (Quran 4:128-129) has abrogated the verse of doing justice among multiple wives.
This action of Muhammad, and this verse of the Quran that granted Muhammad his wish, is the base upon which the whole institution of Misyaar marriage was later constructed. And this is the reason that Muslim Scholars are completely unable to declare Misyaar Haram, while its root lies directly in the Quran and Muhammad's action.
Warning:
Not only Muslim men can make women to accept he humiliation of Misyaar marriage from the start, but even if a couple marries through a traditional Nikah, Muslim men have the power to convert it into a Misyaar marriage by blackmailing or pressuring their wives to relinquish their rights at a later time (as Muhammad later forced Sawdah to give up her turn by threatening to divorce her).
PS 1:
It's typically wealthy men who exploit Misyaar marriages. A poor or even an average-income Muslim man usually cannot afford the additional expenses of a Misyaar marriage when he has a regular wife to support.
Misyar marriages are exploited by rich Arabs in India, where they marry vulnerable Indian Muslim women [reference 1, reference 2, reference 3, reference 4]
It is the same as only the rich (and mostly old) Muslim men took the advantage of Sex Slavery System of Islam, where they bought beautiful slave girls, raped them, then sold them after getting bored from them, and bough new slave women from the market.
PS2:
Islam already usurps the rights of women when:
- She has the duty to put perfume and make her beautiful to provide him with Sex Services on DEMAND.
- She is prohibited to leave the house without the permission of her husband.
- She is even prohibited from visiting her parents without his permission.
- Her husband gets the right to beat her while he pays the money for maintenance.
- She has to surrendering her right to work outside the home and earn her own income
- If a husband mistreats and tortures his wife, she cannot initiate a divorce proceeding on her own.
- The husband can marry multiple wives, and can also have sex with dozens of slave girls, but she cannot.
The ONLY excuse by Islamists was that they boasted that Islam has made women QUEENS while it puts all the financial burden of dowry and maintenance upon husbands. Unfortunately, they don't tell the whole truth about how women lose even this right to dowry and maintenance too and men are given a licence by the Quran to blackmail their wives to give up even their rights to dowry and maintenance.
Hassan Radwan