the spouses affection and mercy. This is why the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said concerning it:
“Until you taste his sweetness and he tastes yours.”
As for a marriage contracted to make her lawful again for her former husband, it does not make her lawful for him according to the overwhelming majority of the early scholars. It is authentically reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“May Allah curse the man who marries a woman to make her lawful again for her former husband, and the man for whom this is done.”
‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb said: “Whenever a man who contracts such a marriage and the man for whom he does so are brought before me, I will stone them both.”
Likewise, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Ibn ‘Abbās, Ibn ‘Umar and others said that she becomes lawful again only through a marriage entered into out of genuine desire, not a marriage contracted to make her lawful again for her former husband. No Companion is known to have permitted such a marriage. They did, however, disagree about temporary marriage, which is better than a marriage contracted to make a woman lawful again for her former husband in three respects.
First, temporary marriage was permissible in the early days of Islam, unlike marriage contracted to make a woman lawful again for her former husband.
Second, Ibn ‘Abbās and a group of the early scholars permitted temporary marriage, whereas none of the Companions permitted marriage contracted to make a woman lawful again for her former husband.
Third, a man entering a temporary marriage desires the woman, and she desires him, for a specified period. By contrast, a woman has no desire whatsoever for the man who marries her to make her lawful again for her former husband, and he has no desire for her, but only for the payment he receives. Even if he does desire her, his desire is for intercourse, not for taking her as a wife; it is the same kind of desire as that of an adulterer.
This is why Ibn ‘Umar said: “They remain adulterers, even if they stay together for twenty years.” For Allah knows that in his heart he intends to make her lawful again for her former husband. Thus, such a marriage lacks the distinctive qualities of marriage. Marriage as ordinarily understood is as Allah Most High describes it:
“And among His signs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, that you may find tranquillity in them, and He has placed between you