Mutah: Holy Prostitution

The

An old but useful read.

Iran: Proposal Debated For Solving Prostitution With 'Chastity Houses'

By Charles Recknagel/Azam Gorgin

A new plan by some senior Iranian clerics for solving the country's problem of street prostitution is causing widespread debate. The plan would create so-called "chastity houses" for destitute women where men could marry them for a few hours under Islamic law. Proponents say the plan would "eradicate social corruption" by legitimizing the sexual relations between the men and women. But critics say it could simply push more poor women and runaway girls into becoming prostitutes.

Prague, 7 August 2002 (RFE/RL) -- Prostitution is illegal in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the penalties are severe, ranging from flogging to execution.

But for reasons no one entirely understands, the number of prostitutes on the streets of Iranian cities and towns has grown substantially in recent years, particularly in Tehran and the holy city of Qom, which is a center for pilgrims and domestic tourists.

Prostitutes wear their veils loosely over their heads in a style that passes for risque in this strictly regulated society. With their faces heavily made up, they stand at traffic circles where men driving by can inspect them and make a deal. The women are often young, including many teenagers who have run away from abusive homes.

Based on official figures, there are some 300,000 women who work as prostitutes in Iran. And according to newspapers, the number is steadily rising, despite frequent police crackdowns.

Now, some senior religious figures are suggesting the only way to solve the problem is to bring it under state control. In recent weeks, several prominent conservative clerics have proposed that prostitutes be placed in government-run shelters for destitute women to be called "chastity houses," where male customers could briefly marry them under Islamic law.

Proponents of the idea argue that it would "eradicate social corruption" by legitimizing sexual relations between the men and women. Under the plan, the couples would register for a temporary marriage under Iran's Shiite religious law code. The code allows a man to marry a woman for a mutually agreed time as short as a few hours or as long as a lifetime by reciting a verse from the Koran.

The temporary marriage license would protect the couple from harassment by authorities and, according to some proposals, it would be accompanied by free contraceptives and health advice.

...

One cleric backing the plan, Ayatollah Mohammed Mousavi Bojnurdi, recently told a newspaper: "We face a real challenge with all these women on the street. Our society is in an emergency situation, so the formation of the chastity houses can be an immediate solution to the problem." He added that the plan "is both realistic and conforms to Sharia [Islamic] law."

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http://www.parstimes.com/women/chastity_houses.html

The

Is there a problem with the site? I could barely manage to paste what I finally did, and one sentence absolutely refused to get posted. : gtin :

**AhmedBahgat**

I do not know mate, I will restart the server now, thanks for letting me know

Cheers

The

Still running into problems, buddy. : grin :

Can anybody paste a chunk of data and see if it works out properly? Looks like I am still having issues with it.

**AhmedBahgat**

The

The American singer-songwriter - whose new album, called Catching A Tiger, is released on June 21 - has sung a duet with Ellie Goulding and has been getting messages from the likes of Katy Perry and Courtney Love.

Lissie revealed: "I played Great Escape this past weekend and Ellie Goulding got up and sang with me and that was cool. She is awesome. I think she's my new friend. And all these little bits and pieces and things are coming together, like Katy Perry tweeted about me the other day and Perez Hilton has been showing me some love, and Courtney Love, like randomly out of nowhere."

She went on: "I've been getting all these shout-outs and stuff and that of course raises a bit of awareness from their fans. I feel great and I think when the album is finally out it's going to be a huge accomplishment."

Lissie is enjoying her time in the UK, and finds the way British people speak fascinating.

She said: "I like the way that you talk different and I think it's really funny that you call a swimsuit a swimming costume - I almost peed my pants when I heard somebody say that. Then they looked at me like, 'what, I don't get it, why are you laughing?' and I'm like, 'oh it's so funny', and they were like, 'shut up'."

"And I like cockney rhyming slang, but somebody told me the other day that if I try to talk cockney rhyming slang people will think I'm annoying or patronising or something and not even to go there or try."

The

Fuck it, man. That crap got posted. : girn :

I will look at this late. Thanks for clarifying, buddy.

**AhmedBahgat**

The

Uhun; something has stoked interest in our visitors. Server under attack!

Anyway, the number by itself doesn't look high enough to really disrupt your server. And since the problem is a peculiar one I will look at things at my end. :-S : grin :

Take care.

The

APPENDIX II MUT'AH OR TEMPORARY MARRIAGE

'Allamah Tabataba'i and Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Another of the misunderstood practices of Shi'ism that has often been criticized. especially by some of the moderns, is temporary marriage or mut'ah.

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From the point of view of legislation and the preservation of public interest also we must consider the legitimacy of temporary marriage, like that of divorce, one of the noteworthy features of Islam. It is obvious that laws and regulations are executed with the aim of preserving the vital interests of the people in a society and providing for their needs. The legitimization of marriage among mankind from the beginning until today is an answer to the instinctive urge for sexual union. Permanent marriage has been continuously practiced among the different peoples of the world. Yet despite this fact, and all the campaigns and efforts at public. persuasion that are carried out against it, there exist throughout the countries of the world, in large and small cities, both hidden and public places where illegitimate sexual u.nion or fornication takes place. This in itself is the best proof that permanent marriage cannot fulfill the instinctive sexual desires of everyone and that a solution must be sought for the problem.

Islam is a universal religion and in its legislation takes all types of human beings into consideration. Considering the fact that permanent marriage does not satisfy the instinctive sexual urge of certain men and that adultery and fornication are according to lslam among the most deadly of poisons. destroying the order and purity of human life. Islam has legitimized temporary marriage under special conditions by virtue of which it becomes distinct from adultery and fornication and free of their evils and corruptions. These conditions inelude the necessity for the woman to be single. to become married temporarily to only one man at one time, and after divorce to keep a period during which she cannot be remarried ('iddah), half of the time that is required after the permanent marriage. The legitimizing of temporary marriage in Islam is done with the aim of allowing within the sacred law possibilities that minimize the evils resulting from the passions of men, which if not channeled lawfully manifest themselves in much more dangerous ways outside the structure of religious law.

The

It's weird. Looks like the server doesn't like the topic, buddy. : grin :

**AhmedBahgat**

The

I haven't changed the settings for a while now, buddy.

As for the text in place of smilies, that's by design. Smile

Take care.

**AhmedBahgat**

The

This is one topic I will pursue to the exclusion of all other topics; want to see what ahle mutah have to say about this one. : grin :