The phenomenon of temporary marriage within the Islamic Republic of Iran is explored within the documentary in the Bazaar of Sexes. The film's feminine director, Sudabeh Morterzai, gives viewers a rare perception into a very advanced society. Marian Brehmer watched the film
It is asserted that Muhammad as soon as suggested his followers to enter into brief marriages whereas travelling. in accordance with subculture, the Prophet authorised of such brief-term alliances beneath definite situations, comparable to during wartime or while on pilgrimage. In Arabic, this follow of temporary marriage is called mut'a (pleasure); in Farsi it's called sighe.
a short panning shot to Tehran. A middle-aged mullah in a black turban and cloak sits at the back of a desk. He seems to be extremely well versed within the matters he's being puzzled on. the man leans back and launches into his clarification: "A virgin may most effective enter right into a non-sexual classification of transient union, and there mustn't be any penetration, both entrance or again." somewhat embarrassed, he scratches his ear and laughs, revealing some missing tooth. "All of this is provided for via the holy legislation of Islam."
authentic encounters similar to this one in a cleric's workplace are the hallmark of the film in the Bazaar of Sexes. For this documentary, which probes the phenomenon of the sighe in modern Iran, the Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai met with participants of the clergy and the center class as well as young people and interviewed them on a subject with which all of them are very frequent.
From the Shia point of view, brief marriage changed into already practised before the creation of Islam, and then also right through the Prophet's lifetime. The Sunni orthodoxy, youngsters, immediately abolished the mut'a. It was the third caliph, Umar, who regarded brief marriage as condoning fornication and declared it banned. in the eyes of the Shia, this became an intentional intervention in a tradition recommended by Muhammad. for their part, the Sunnis accuse the Shia of encouraging prostitution below the pretence of sighe.
a little felony loophole
brief marriage is therefore practised nowadays only in Shia communities, certainly in Iran and occasionally also in Iraq. firstly, sighe in Iran became geared towards widows. youngsters frowned upon via society, it nowadays constitutes a loophole in the commonly inflexible legislation, which younger individuals frequently take competencies of. Theoretically, a younger couple with a sighe can pursue their love existence even with out widely wide-spread marriage vows.
For every temporary marriage, the man has to pay a pre-determined sum to his short-term wife. The duration of a sighe is determined out within the marriage contract. From just a number of hours to a number of years; anything else is viable. There is just one limit: after each and every sighe, a girl should wait two menstrual periods earlier than marrying once more.
An aged mullah within the film finds this rule good: "If a lady is normally getting married, then what is the change from prostitution?"
every time priests speak in the movie, they appear to be speaking from their own inner most universe. Their statements stand alone, without commentary. The viewer additionally rarely gets to listen to the questions requested with the aid of the director, which lends the film greater immediacy.
With exceptional subtlety, Sudabeh Mortezai manages to seize a number of distinctive situations that exhibit the alienation of society from the clergy. there is, for example, the young mullah on a taxi ride from Tehran to Qom, the city known as a training floor for clerics within the Islamic Republic. When the driving force puts on a pop tune CD ("circulation your hips"), his passenger requests silence. "that's troublesome," the mullah says hesitantly, unable to suppress a grin as he features out the moral situation at stake.
The issues facing core-aged men like the taxi driver from Isfahan are the focus of one more scene. He need to be over forty, but is unmarried and childless. As an older single, he has issue renting an condo. here is why his ex-sighe spouse advises him to enter into a further temporary marriage.
Dismal state of mind
Later, we meet the bachelor once more, this time with a different man. they are standing in an empty residence and speaking about girls. The chum is already divorced. next time, he says, he needs an uneducated girl, "a housewife classification". Says the taxi driver: "i know a person. My aunt. She is 70 and unattached. totally uneducated!" Cigarettes are lit and a love music wails out from a cell phone. the two guys gaze on the barren house, which appears simply as dismal as the latest mind set of many Iranians.
it is crucial to note that within the Bazaar of Sexes became shot over three years ago, at a time of crippling sanctions and significant inflation that extra multiplied the already significant force on Iran's population. The film makes palpable how Iranians are torn between the conflicting demands of the legislations, deepest life and social conventions.
on the identical time, besides the fact that children, it sheds a greater nuanced mild on the Iranian clergy, introducing us to a wide range of diverse characters: from the younger cleric who is frequently in doubt of himself, to the smug mullah within the robe, to the bearded ayatollah in Qom. throughout practising their lifestyle-steeped profession, they're all confronted with a reality that more and more challenges their management.
The final scene demonstrates this all too obviously: a grasp of guffawing girls in a cafe – made up like Barbie dolls, smoking a hookah, their headscarves pushed as far back as feasible – loudly pokes enjoyable at a young mullah at the subsequent desk. The negative cleric is surely at a loss. With problem, he focuses his eyes on his plate, mustering a tormented smile.
is this a victory of modernity over the medieval clergy? despite the fact that Western commentators would every so often want to think so: Iran just isn't that essential.
Sighe may well be viewed as the peg on which the director has hung her photograph of Iran. it is a cheerless however sincere photo. We have to stay mindful, although, that even this photograph is in the end nothing greater than a single part of what may also be referred to as the "truth" of such a fancy country.
Marian Brehmer
© Qantara.de 2013
Translated from the German with the aid of Jennifer Taylor
Editor: Aingeal Flanagan/Qantara.de
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