TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s hard-line interior minister is encouraging temporary marriages as a way to avoid extramarital sex, a stance many in this conservative country fear would instead encourage prostitution.
A temporary marriage, or “sigheh,” refers to a Shiite Muslim tradition under which a man and a woman sign a contract that allows them to be “married” for any length of time, even a few hours. An exchange of money, as a sort of dowry, is often involved.
Although the practice exists, it’s not very common in Iran, a Shiite majority nation where many consider it a license for prostitution. Others, however, have advocated institutionalizing the tradition, saying it would help fight “illicit” sex in a country where sexual relations outside marriage are banned under Islamic law.
“Temporary marriage is God’s rule. We must aggressively encourage that,” state-run television quoted Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi as saying.
The minister, who made his comments Thursday, was the first Iranian official to support the disputed practice in more than a decade. Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani raised the issue in the early 1990s but was opposed by the country’s hard-line clerics.
“We have to find a solution to meet the sexual desire of the youth who have no possibility of marriage,” Pourmohammadi was quoted as saying by local newspapers.
Half of Iran’s population of 70 million is under 30. Taxi driver Reza Sarabi, 23, expressed the frustration of many young Iranian men who can’t afford to buy a house and get married.
“I have no money to set up a matrimonial life. I don’t want prostitutes. What should I do with my sexual needs?” he said.
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