Do you think prostitution, if well regulated, should be socially acceptable?
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. Like many other issues of life, I think prostitution too has its merits, besides harms. Also, it is less exploitative when well regulated by law. However, whether regulated or not, a main issue with prostitution is that it infringes human dignity, especially dignity of women, by promoting sexual objectification. The latter is a mental state when people perceive men and women as sex objects, rather than complex human beings deserving of dignity and respect. For further considerations, I will leave the issue to the experts and the evolving awareness of the societies involved.
Can prostitution be acceptable from a Quranic perspective, especially when it is non-exploitative and the sex is conducted privately and safely with mutually agreed terms?
From a Quranic perspective, a lawful sexual union requires a mutually respectful agreement. The latter is a solemn pledge (meethaqan galezaan, 4:21), which is based on the principles of mutual dedication (baʿḍukum ila baʿḍin, 4:21), love, care and compassion (4:19, 30:21). It is this powerful and binding commitment between the two partners that constitutes the important basis of conjugal bonding as an institution. It is difficult to say whether prostitution can ever meet this important requirement.
Can a sex work, if well regulated and based on mutual agreement, be considered as a form of temporary marriage, like mutah or misyar?
This is a debatable topic. On one hand, ‘marriage’ in the Quran is no more than the promise of two people to stay together with love and care. Thus the only requirement for a ‘Quran-instituted marriage’ (QIM, nikah, cohabitation) is mutually respectful agreement or commitment (4:19, 4:21, 4:24, 30:21). On the other hand, this agreement or commitment can be informal – not necessarily verbal or written or with documentation – and also, according to some interpretations, can be for any flexible length of time (4:24). The latter allegedly allowed the traditional practices of ‘temporary marriage’ like mutah or pleasure marriage among Shias and misyar or traveller’s marriage among Sunnis.
Now, from a Quranic viewpoint, prostitution cannot be classified as a form of ‘marriage’ because, unlike even a temporary marriage, it cannot meet the important requirement for ‘marriage’, i.e., the commitment for mutual love, care, dedication and compassion. Then again, a temporary marriage (like mutah or misyar) without commitment is akin to a regulated prostitution, when the distinction between the two gets blurred.
So, does the Quran really allow temporary marriage?
As noted above, according to some exegetists, temporary marriage has been recognised in the Quran itself without any restriction or prohibition other than insistence on the payment of a mutually negotiable mahr which protects the woman’s rights: Then as to those women of whom you seek content/enjoyment (istamta’, ?by temporary marriage), pay their mahrs as an obligation. But there is no blame on you if you mutually agree to change the settlement after it has been made. 4:24. Translated here as content/enjoyment, the verb istamta’ essentially means to enjoy or get mutual benefit or to profit from one another. It derives from m-t-’a, a common root shared by mutah (joy, pleasure), the popular word for temporary marriage.
Also because there is no clear Quranic evidence that temporary marriage was prohibited, and because “everything is allowed unless clearly prohibited”, these exegetists consider temporary marriage as Quranically legitimate. Both Shia and Sunni agree that it was permissible during the Prophet’s ministry and among believers. If it was prohibited, the Quran would clearly mention the prohibition. Temporary marriage traditions reportedly existed during the Prophet’s lifetime and even later, unless banned by the second Caliph Omar. One may or may not wish to go along with the innovations (bidat) of the Caliphs, but one cannot impose their interpretation on everyone else. People should decide for themselves what works for them. See What is nikah.
How does a mutah marriage deal with the risk of unwanted baby?
According to the Shia tradition, after dissolution of the mutah, the wife must undergo a period of sexual abstinence (iddah); in case of pregnancy, iddah serves to identify a child’s legitimate father, who will be responsible to provide the child with sustenance and inheritance. For details, see https://www.islamquest.net/en/archive/fa3354.
But isn’t a mutah marriage exploitative and similar to prostitution, since one is paying the woman just for sex?
It really depends. A mutah or temporary marriage is a pre-Islamic tradition that still has legal sanction among Twelver Shiis, predominantly in Iran. Ideally, any respectful cohabitation for any length of time between two consenting adults, with or even without ‘marriage’, is based on the concept of committed relationship, as noted above. Since this requires a certain level of responsibility and dedication towards each other so that no one is treated as a commodity, it qualitatively differs from promiscuity and prostitution.
On the other hand, any marriage, whether temporary or permanent, can be exploitative if one of the spouses is deprived of equal rights and human dignity.
Is marriage only a licence for sex, after all?
Not really. Since marriage is manmade, different societies have different customs and methods to institute it, with or without involving religion. Modern civil law considers marriage as a contract that aims to secure the detailed rights of both partners and their children. Thus, contrary to misperceptions of some religious schools, marriage is more than just a licence for sex. Marriage laws vary in different countries in accordance with the regional traditions and needs. While the Quranic guidance on the ‘bonding of a couple’ (QIM, nikah, which is more like cohabitation) mainly functions as a reminder of the permanent values and human rights (4:26, 2:176), it leaves marriage ((zawaj) and the evolving laws to the societies involved.
Lamp of Islam 