As a muslim, I am truly appalled at the suggestion that temporary marriage (muta) will be used as a tactic to convert people to Islam.
Honestly, before I try to convert my non-muslim friends, I have to convert people who actually call themselves muslim. Even before doing that, I have to convert myself – Am I truly a muslim in God’s eyes, do I even know what a muslim is or am I just following some mullah telling me what to do? Have I truly understood the Quran and implemented it in my life? Does my character reflect my faith?
Also, please google mutah for yourself and see how starkly different it is from what you conceive it to be. In my own words, to the best of my ability, I’ll try to quickly sum up what I know about muta.
Muta is a temporary marriage where the two people consent to a time period that they will be together, they also consent to what the dowry (gift) will be (the male has to give dowry/gift to the female), and lastly they set forth conditions (like no touching, only talking, etc.). When this is done, the two are permissible for each other for the time period decided upon, and in compliance with the conditions arranged on.
Muta is very very different from dating or prostitution btw.
With Muta, in case there is a pregnancy stemming from the temp marriage, the male is financially obligated to provide for the child and, furthermore, it is recommended (by the Prophet pbuh) for the two to marry so the child will have two parents to rear him/her instead of one.
Also, unlike dating where you have to trick someone into getting physical with them, or have to show skin to lure a person to get physical with you, with muta, you can preserve your modesty and be straightforward about both your needs right at the start. That way the rest of the time you two are together, instead of focusing on getting into each others pants, you focus on the person in front of you, the conversation is not focused on alter motives but to genuinely get familiar with each other – what a concept huh!
Also, unlike prostitution, this is a marriage and it also isn’t focused on sex but to be in the company of a woman/man who is not mahram (permissible) for you. There are no directive that “we must have sex” but rather its an affirmation of your want to be together with this person. Both partners realize that they have needs, but they also understand that there is a process involved and that getting physical is just one of many options they have (if they mutually feel like going that route). And depending on the conditions set, sex might not be an option at all, and might just be the couple talking and walking together.
Also, unlike prostitution, one can not do muta with just anyone. The persons involved have to be God fearing and also have to have dignity for themselves and their body.
Now remember, these rules allowing for temp marriage are for specific circumstances only and are not practiced by the majority. Its just that Islam is for every circumstance, and there are certain circumstances where muta (temp marriage) is useful, to both the people doing it and the society as whole. For instance, in the middle east and iran, the age at which a male becomes financially stable enough to marry keeps getting higher, so what is he supposed to do if he is in his late 20′s and is not able to marry – one choice is patience and pray for marriage to happen as soon as possible (the recommended choice), another choice is to do temporary marriage (there is no monasticism in Islam, Islam does not look as sex as a bad thing, rather its a beautiful thing if done within a proper structure and in a decent way that doesn’t harm society).
Now, the issue of polygamy is an entirely different one than muta. With temporary marriage or permanent marriage, one is not allowed to marry more than one wife if he can not treat them all equally. Since this is theoretically impossible, it is something a normal muslim male would not even consider (unless he has wrong intentions, but in that case, the second marriage is invalid).
I hope that clears things up. And remember, when reading anything you are unfamiliar with, take it with a grain of salt and do your own research.
