'Iranian interior ministry has launched a huge campaign to encourage the country's frustrated youth to seek sexual fulfilment in muta marriages'

" ... A temporary marriage, known generally as muta, is a specifically Shia tradition. It involves a contract between a man, who may or may not be married, and an unmarried woman - a contract in which the duration of marriage and the dowry are specified in advance. Both sides agree by mutual consent to the length of the marriage, which can range from an hour to 99 years.

There is no divorce; the muta contract simply expires with the lapse of its duration. Although witnesses are not required, the marriage has to be registered in court. Unlike in an ordinary, permanent marriage (how many really are permanent?), a temporary wife cannot claim maintenance. But a temporary husband cannot disown the children born from a muta marriage. Children of temporary marriages are considered legitimate, and are entitled to equal status in inheritance and other rights with their half- siblings born of permanent marriages.

This type of marriage existed in the time of the Prophet Muhammad, but it was banned by Umar, the second caliph, and later abandoned by most schools of Islamic law. However, "Twel ver" Shias, who predominate in Iran and Iraq, disagree with the rest of the Muslim world. They argue that it is not only a legitimate institution sanctioned by Islamic law, but essential for a society's sexual health. Since the "Islamic Revolution" of 1979, the Iranian regime has promoted muta vigorously, extolling its virtues in mosques and schools, at religious gatherings, in news papers and on radio and television.

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This year, the Iranian interior ministry has launched a huge campaign to encourage the country's frustrated youth to seek sexual fulfilment in muta marriages. Roughly half of Iran's 70 million folk are under the age of 30. An increasing number are delaying marriage because of financial pressures and house prices, thereby missing out on sex. Soon, these young people will become serially monogamous, hopping from temporary partner to temporary partner. Iran will have caught up with the west; and we will all be happy. ... "

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