Temporary Marriage: an Approved Way of Submission

Temporary marriage is a multi-dimensional topic. It allows Muslim men and women to be considered as husband and wife for a limited and temporary fixed time (Johnson, 2013) after specifying a Dowar, the bride price paid by the groom or his family. (Manzar, 2008). In Arabic dictionaries “Mut’ah “is defined as ‘enjoyment, pleasure, delight’. Present study is a step towards a deeper understanding of the social matter. There are pros and cons associated with this social ritual; however, the unseen burden carries enough weight when it comes to women. This article aims at clarifying various aspects of temporary marriage and indicating the pertaining consequences on women which have remained hidden from the public eye and even the researchers so far. This study reveals the fact that while temporary marriage is playing a role to legalize illicit relationships, on the other hand, subjugate women in the name of protection. Study has been conducted in the framework of interpretivism and the approach of qualitative research. Using a field theory approach, the research was performed in three metropolitans of Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad. Due to the cultural and religious vulnerability of the research topic and the difficulty of reaching the samples, probability sampling has been used. Theoretical saturation and data saturation was achieved after having 100 interviews. More interviews were conducted, however, in order to make the results more reliable. Researchers agreed on theoretical saturation and comprehensiveness of the research after interviewing 216 people. However, the experts for the qualitative method contributed to supervision and providing guidance throughout the study. Of the 216 interviewees, 35% were men and 65% were women. Data of the present study have been collected through a free and in-depth interview technique. Interviews were conducted first and then they were analysed and interpreted through theoretical coding (open, axial and selective). In order to collect data, and for the purpose of reaching important concepts and categories of participants, informal interview method was applied. At the second stage, the concepts and categories achieved in the process of the interview were pursued in line with sampling. When the general themes of interviews were formed through concepts and categories, interview questions were standardized by the semi-structured interview method. The process was continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Afterwards major categories, sub-categories, and concepts were achieved through implementing open coding and simultaneously with data collection. Through axial coding, sub-categories became related to each other and also to major categories. Types of categories were also identified in terms of being causal, procedural and consequential.

Keywords:
Temporary Marriages, Sigheh, Women, Iran, Culture, Gender, Equality, Religion

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How To Cite This Article:

Kameel Ahmady, Temporary Marriage: an Approved Way of Submission, Swift Journal of Social Science and Humanities 5(1), pp. 022-033.