Critics describe mutah - temporary marriage - as "licensed prostitution", then add a sharper claim: Allah permitted it, but the Caliph Umar later banned it. From the Sunni perspective, that framing is historically and legally wrong. Sunni Islam fully acknowledges an early permission of mutah, but holds that the final prohibition came from the Prophet (PBUH) himself, was transmitted by Companions including Ali, and was later enforced publicly by Umar.
The issue is a gradual ruling, not Umar overruling revelation
Temporary or non-permanent unions were known in Arabian society before Islam, though one should not pretend that every earlier form was identical to the later juristic contract called mutah. The important point is more limited: Islam did not create an unrestricted sexual practice and then leave it as a permanent rule. The hadith literature presents mutah as an early concession under hardship, especially when men were away from their wives, before its ruling was finally settled.
This is similar to other cases where Islam dealt with existing practices gradually: some were prohibited immediately, some were regulated, and some were allowed for a period before a final ruling came. Therefore, the mere fact that some Companions practiced mutah at an earlier stage does not prove that it remained lawful forever.
The final prohibition is attributed to the Prophet (PBUH)
Sunni scholarship does not deny that mutah was once permitted. The decisive question is whether the permission remained. In authentic Sunni hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) himself announced its prohibition:
O people, I had permitted you to contract temporary marriage with women, but Allah has forbidden that until the Day of Resurrection.
Sahih Muslim 1406 (Sabra al-Juhani)
Ali ibn Abi Talib also narrated the prohibition:
Ali narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) forbade temporary marriage with women and the eating of domestic donkey meat on the day of Khaybar.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5115; also narrated in Sahih Muslim
This matters because the objection often tries to use Ali against Umar. But in the strongest Sunni sources, Ali himself is among those who transmit the Prophet's prohibition.
The chronology is layered, but the final ruling is clear
The reports do not all present the chronology in one simple line. Some narrations mention Khaybar, while others mention the Conquest of Mecca or Awtas. Imam al-Nawawi's well-known reconciliation is that mutah was permitted, then prohibited at Khaybar, then permitted again briefly around the Conquest, and then prohibited permanently. Ibn Hajar also discusses the different reported dates and the scholarly attempts to reconcile them.
The Sunni case does not depend on proving every detail of that timeline beyond dispute. The decisive point is that the authentic reports explicitly attribute the final prohibition to the Prophet (PBUH), with the Sabra narration stating that Allah forbade it "until the Day of Resurrection." Umar, therefore, was not making halal into haram by his own authority; he was enforcing and publicizing an existing Prophetic ruling.
"But some Companions practiced it until Umar forbade it"
Critics often cite the report of Jabir ibn Abd Allah:
We contracted temporary marriage during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and during the time of Abu Bakr, until Umar forbade it in the case of Amr ibn Hurayth.
Sahih Muslim 1405
This report is authentic, but it does not prove that Umar originated a new law. The classical Sunni reconciliation is that knowledge of the final abrogation did not reach every Companion at the same time, or was not established for every individual with the same clarity. Al-Nawawi explains the continued permissive view of some Companions in this way, especially in relation to Ibn Abbas. Ibn Hajar likewise notes that a later ruling may be unknown to some individuals even after others have transmitted it.
So the meaning of "Umar forbade it" is not "Umar abrogated revelation." It means Umar publicly stopped people from acting on an earlier concession after the Prophetic prohibition had been established.
The statement attributed to Ali - and the view of Ibn Abbas
The famous line, "Had Umar not forbidden mutah, no one would commit zina except a wretch," must be handled carefully.
- Its attribution to Ali is not sound enough to oppose the sahih reports. Some routes are disconnected, such as reports through al-Hakam from Ali, and another route in the Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq goes through Ibn Jurayj from an unnamed person he considered reliable. An unnamed or disconnected transmitter cannot overturn the authentic narrations in which Ali himself reports the Prophet's prohibition.
- A similar statement is better known from Ibn Abbas. It is reported through Ata and cited by scholars such as al-Tahawi in Sharh Maani al-Athar. Ibn Abbas is indeed known to have held a permissive view for a time. There are also reports that he later restricted it to cases of severe necessity or retracted after the evidence reached him. In any case, even an authentic Companion's opinion cannot override an established Prophetic prohibition.
The honest Sunni position is therefore not to deny that an early dispute existed. Rather, it is to say that the dispute was settled by the marfu hadiths from the Prophet (PBUH), including the report transmitted by Ali.
What about Quran 4:24?
The verse most often cited is:
فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُم بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ فَآتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً
So for whatever enjoyment you have had from them, give them their due compensation as an obligation.
Quran 4:24
Sunni tafsir gives two main responses. First, many scholars, including Ibn Kathir, read the verse as referring to ordinary marriage and the payment of the mahr. The word ujur in the Quran can mean dowries, and the word istamtatum linguistically means to benefit or enjoy; it is not automatically a technical reference to temporary marriage in every context.
Second, Sunni tafsir also acknowledges that some early reports connected the verse to the initial permission of mutah, and some non-canonical explanatory readings mention "to an appointed term." Even if one grants that Quran 4:24 included the original permission, that would still not prove continuing legality. A ruling allowed at one stage can be abrogated by a later ruling from the Prophet (PBUH), and the authentic hadiths state that the final prohibition came from him.
"Licensed prostitution" is a polemical label
Calling the early permitted form "licensed prostitution" is not a neutral description. During the period in which it was allowed, it was treated as a form of nikah: there was a contract, an agreed dower, and a specified term. Qadi Iyad, as quoted by al-Nawawi, describes the early form as a marriage for a fixed period, without inheritance between the parties, ending when the term expired rather than through divorce.
That does not mean Sunni Islam permits it today. It means that during the period of Prophetic permission it was not zina, because Allah and His Messenger had permitted it. After the final prohibition, the four Sunni schools hold that such a contract is invalid and unlawful.
The later Sunni consensus
After the early disagreement associated especially with Ibn Abbas, the Sunni jurists agreed that mutah is prohibited. The four Sunni schools hold the contract to be invalid. Scholars such as Ibn al-Mundhir, Qadi Iyad, and al-Nawawi report consensus, or near-consensus after the early dispute, among the jurists of Ahl al-Sunnah.
Thus the Sunni position rests on authentic hadith, Companion transmission, and later juristic agreement - not on the idea that Umar possessed authority to overturn Allah's law.
Conclusion
The accurate picture is: an early permission, a final Prophetic prohibition, some Companions who did not immediately know or accept the final abrogation, Umar's public enforcement of the settled ruling, and the later agreement of the Sunni schools that mutah is unlawful and invalid. Umar did not ban what Allah had permanently permitted. Rather, the Prophet (PBUH) announced the final prohibition, and Ali was among those who narrated it.
For related discussion of marriage, consent, and the rules governing intimacy in Islam, see the related topics below.