Temporary Marriage: A Comparative Study between the Zoroastrian Tradition of the Late Sassanid Period and Twelver Shiism

Marriage has a special place in Zoroastrianism and Islam (Twelver Shiism). One of the types of marriage is temporary marriage. There is evidence of temporary marriage in the Zoroastrian tradition of the late Sassanid period, a marriage that can be compared to muta‘a or temporary marriage in Islam. This research, based on the documents available in Zoroastrian texts and the studies of orientalists, first deals with the existence of temporary marriage, its types, and the rights and duties of women in the Zoroastrian tradition, and then examines the same issue from the perspective of Islam and shows similarities and differences. It seems that temporary marriage in Zoroastrianism and Islam has a lot of similarities, although sometimes there are fundamental differences in the goals and conditions. Considering the traces of this type of marriage in ancient Iran, the Zoroastrian tradition, and the ignorant Arabs, we can understand that temporary marriage is not one of the founding rules of Islam. After criticism and praise, Islam has confirmed the temporary marriage in a way that justice is established for the couple and each of them achieves his/her desired benefits.