The Sunnis greatly rely on their SHAHEE books believing these books to be the final & exact word on the Islam preached by the Prophet even though the earliest these books were written is 150 years after the Prophet. So for Sunnies the law in the Shahee of 3 Talaks (pronouncements of divorce) is God's law even though it has nothing to do with the Quran. In fact as the Quran tells us that arbitration is essential before any divorce can be pronounced it is difficult to justify the law of 3 talaks as an Islamic law . But for the Sunni scholars the laws as written in SHAHEE book is the ultimate and is made to override the Quranic requirement of arbitration.
What is more interesting is how our Shia scholars also override the Quran when it comes to mutah. We see they too justify mutah in the same way of relying blindly on narrations from Sunni books.
But we have an agenda when we accept mutah narrations from Sunni books: By quoting from Sunni books we not only convince ourselves but we also attempt to handcuff the Sunnis because we know they cannot deny what is written in the shahees, However, what we forget is that within the same books there are other follow-up stories which the Sunnis will quote but we will dismiss once our agenda is served by the selective stories we quote from their books..
So when we quote from Shahee that the Prophet allowed Mutah to the two men who came in desperation for sex then the Sunnis will say that it was only in desperation as it was generally forbidden at Kaybar. We use the first story that it was allowed to the two men but refuse to believe that it was generally forbidden at Kaybar as we feel we can be selective on the stories in the Shahees.
But from a true Shia perspective we don't have to believe in either of these stories written in the Shahees as we are not handcuffed to the books other than the Quran - at least that is what we claim! So let us look at the story in the Sunni Shahee we choose to believe i.e. of the two men who came to desperation. This story is not in any of the Shia books.
The Story of the Two Desperate Men in the Shahee
This event is said to have occured after the Purification of Mecca (often wrongly claimed by Muslim books as the Conquest of Mecca!) and is said to have happened on the way to the battle of Hunain or Tabuk. Hence the incident is claimed to have happened several years after Kaybar.
The two men, both renowned Companions, believed that mutah was forbidden, and hence, having denied themselves sex for over two weeks (!!!) came to the Prophet saying that they needed permission to be castrated as they could not 'stand it any longer.' The Prophet was astonished and told them to go in to the desert and find a woman to do mutah in order to get release. So the two men hurried and found a woman with a 'long beautiful neck' who in turn accepted the younger man to do mutah with and took an old blanket as mahar (payment) of mutah.
Here are the questions to do with the story:
Question 1: Why did these companions think mutah was forbidden when it was many years after Kaybat when this incident is claimed to have happened? Did the Prophet not make it clear after Khybar that mutah was allowed? Question 2: if these two men were at the verge of blowing up then surely the Prophet had the responsibility not to give mixed messages about mutah such that these two 'companions' brought themselves to such a difficult point unnecessarily. So would the Prophet ever give mixed message to leave his close companions in such desperation? Question 3: Can men who have not had sex for two week be at the point of castration? Furthermore does the story make sense as the story projects the two men as habituated to casual sex but then ready to do castration which would rob them of their pre-occupation? Or did the men exaggerate about their state, and if they did then can they be trusted after they can lie and 'blackmail' the Prophet about their state? And would the Prophet be so gullible that be fell for it? Question 4: The Prophet is claimed to have told them to find a woman, but from where and what kind is not stated! So is the Prophet saying that in desperation any woman would do? Otherwise did the Prophet give an incomplete 'fatwa?' Question 5: The two men found only one woman in the desert, but there were two men! Firstly how credible is this as any single woman would not be sitting in the desert all alone. In any case, how did the men manage to track her as to where she was sitting in the desert? And if it was a miracle then why not have a miracle to serve both men? Question 6: Of the two men only the young one got mutah. So did the old one then go on to castrate himself? Or did he just blow himself up which would have been a better solutions as the Quran has forbidden self harm? Question 7: What happened to the young one in the next few weeks as one off Mutah would not have solved his constant ongoing sex needs? Question 8: The woman they found had a 'long beautiful neck.' So does this tell us that the companions observed the woman's beauty and may have looked at more than her neck beauty? In other words did they check her out? Question 9: The companions did not ask her if she was a muslim or Ahle Kitab. So does this mean that men in desperation don't have to ask? Question 10: There is no mention again of whether the woman got pregnant. So is there no responsibility on men once they have completed their sex fix? Question 11: The Quran forbids Muslims to even mutilate anim als so how did these two companions come in front of the Prophet proposing to mutilate themselves? They were therefore ignorant of the Quran even after becoming Companions of the holy Prophet and yet we rely on their story to prove that mutah is valid!
One can easily see how ridiculous the story is but we shias will not hesitate to quote and believe it as it serves our purposes. This story is even quoted by Sheikh Ammar Nakshawani in his famous lecture to justify mutah.
And the worst aspect of this story - which on one questions due to the passive acceptance of it - is that if shia men want to role model this story then it can mean that if a woman is alone, and may be frightened to say No, then it is still okay to approach her for sex. There is no issue of harassment of women sitting or working alone minding their own business to be approached by shia men looking for mutah! There is no issue for rich businessmen making constant propositions to their female workers who may be vulnerable and afraid to say no. May be the concept of sexual harassment of women, taking undue advantage and coaxing women in to sex is not defined in our religious dictionary written by our male establishment when other modern cultures would regard this as an infringement of her space and propositioning her in to sex for financial rewards. I find this no less grave than the 3 Talak rule that causes so many problems for Sunni couples but for their male establishment which too is not able to realise what nonsense they too have introduced in to Islam.