Ruling on misyaar marriage

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Jazaa'iri ____ The Reality "Misyar" marriage often done in secret is fast pervading Muslim communities. The practice, usually a temporary alliance in which the wife waives some conventional marriage rights such as cohabitation and financial support, is an issue of differing. More than a dozen interviews with matchmakers and misyar couples -- including grooms juggling other conventional marriages -- offer a window into a phenomenon still shrouded in secrecy and shame, despite its proliferation. One such testimony highlights how misyar is seen as a hybrid between marriage and singlehood, benefiting polygamists without the stress of maintaining a second household. A gentleman in his 40s, who has been in such a relationship with a widow in her 30s for more than two years, says: "Misyar offers comfort, freedom and companionship that is halal (permitted in Islam)." This gentleman has three children from a separate, conventional marriage, and visits his misyar wife in her Riyadh home "whenever" he wants. He continues: "My friend has had 11 secret misyar wives. He divorces and marries another, divorces and marries another..."