Marriage in Islam: Is Temporary Marriage/Mutah Halal?

What's Temporary Marriage/Mutah?
It's basically the same as normal (permanent) marriage except as the name implies it's temporary, in other words the couple may remain married only for a definite period of time. There's dowry, consent of guardian, Idaa, sex, children responsibilities, etc .. However, there are other minor differences between the permanent marriage and the temporary one, for example the couple don't inherit each other and it's not compulsory for the husband to cover the basic living expenses as is the case with the permanent marriage. Nonetheless, it's a marriage contract where each party can lay down their own conditions.

Is Temporary Marriage/Mutah Halal/permissible?
All Islamic sects (Sunnah & Shia) agree that Temporary Marriage/Mutah was Halal/permissible during the Prophet lifetime but they disagree whether it remained Halal during the Prophet lifetime or he himself forbade it during his lifetime (i.e. revoked its permissibility) or someone else did so.

On one hand Shia Muslims believe it's still Halal as the Prophet didn't revoke its permissibility during his lifetime and they believe that nobody with no exception can reverse the Prophet verdicts. On the other hand, the majority of Sunni Muslims believe it's no longer Halal, some of them cite that the Prophet revoked its permissibility during his lifetime while others consider it Haram because the 2nd Caliph revoked it. Ironically, there are Hadiths that support each claim but according to my search it seems that there are more robust Hadiths that affirm it was actually the second Caliph who forbade Mutah. Herein a robust/Sahih Hadith from Sahih Muslim as an example:

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported: We contracted temporary marriage giving a handful of (tales or flour as a dower during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and durnig the time of Abu Bakr until 'Umar forbade it in the case of 'Amr b. Huraith.

Sahih Muslim: The Book of Marriage (Kitab Al-Nikah)

حدثني ‏ ‏محمد بن رافع ‏ ‏حدثنا ‏ ‏عبد الرزاق ‏ ‏أخبرنا ‏ ‏ابن جريج ‏ ‏أخبرني ‏ ‏أبو الزبير ‏ ‏قال سمعت ‏ ‏جابر بن عبد الله ‏ ‏يقولا ‏
‏كنا ‏ ‏نستمتع ‏ ‏بالقبضة ‏ ‏من التمر والدقيق الأيام على عهد رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏وأبي بكر ‏ ‏حتى نهى عنه ‏ ‏عمر ‏ ‏في شأن ‏ ‏عمرو بن حريث ‏

صحيح مسلم : كتاب النكاح

What's the difference between Temporary Marriage/Mutah and prostitution ?
The same difference between permanent/normal marriage and prostitution. Simply, marriage is Halal/permissible sex while prostitution is Haram/forbidden sex. It mainly come down to responsibilities, there are responsibilities and liabilities in marriage while in prostitution there's mess and money. In Islamic marriage the wife has to go on Idaa (not have sex or marry someone else for a certain period of time) in case of divorce (or end of term in case of Mutah) or if the husband passes away, the husband has to cover the basic living expenses (not compulsory in Mutah but he has to fulfill all conditions laid down by the wife) and most importantly he's the father of the children if he makes the wife pregnant, etc ..


What's all this agitation against Temporary Marriage/Mutah then?
Probably because of several factors like the misusage or the mispractice by some people who practiced it wrongly that made it look as ugly as prostitution (i.e. the girl doesn't go on Idaa after the end of term), also misunderstanding and lack of information which results in misconceptions, moreover the common propaganda Shia vs. Sunnah, etc ..


If Mutah is Halal then why bother getting married permanently?
True the two types of marriage provide a Halal mean of having sex but people don't get married just for having sex in a Halal way even though sex is a cornerstone of marriage/nikah. If the aim of getting married is just to fulfill the sexual desire in a Halal way then probably Mutah would be sufficient. However, if the aim of getting married is not only to fulfill the sexual desire in a Halal way but also to establish a life partnership and build a family then obviously the permanent/regular marriage would be the most suitable type of marriage to achieve that.