Nawal al-Makhafi Special correspondent for the BBC Arab Service
Priests in Iraq patronize and organize prostitution themselves using the Shiite practice of temporary “marriage for pleasure,” the BBC’s Arab service found out.
During an undercover investigation, journalists found that most Islamic clerics working in the so-called marriage agencies at the largest mosques in Baghdad are ready to organize a “marriage for pleasure”. In some cases, such a “marriage” lasts only an hour and is used simply for sex. In some cases, the mullah was ready to “marry” an adult man to a girl of nine.
Priests can also provide a “wife” for such a temporary marriage.
As follows from the film-investigation, filmed by journalists, these clerics essentially perform the functions of pimps.
BBC journalists in Iraq and Britain conducted an 11-month investigation. They filmed religious figures on a hidden camera, met women who were sexually exploited, and men who paid to search for “wives for pleasure.”
After fifteen years of war in Iraq, there are many widows and even more refugees. Many of them have to enter into temporary marriages in order to get out of poverty.
Prevalence
Journalists found that temporary marriages are widely available in the vicinity of the two most important Shiite shrines in Iraq.
In a conversation with ten clergymen of the Hadimiyah Mosque, one of the most important in Shiism, eight of them expressed their readiness to conclude a “marriage of pleasure”, five did not object to the conclusion of such a marriage with 12-13 year old girls.
The filmmakers also spoke with four clergymen in the city of Karbala, where Shia pilgrims flock from all over the world. Two of them did not mind marrying a child.
Four clergymen were filmed on a hidden camera. Three were ready to find women for a short-term “marriage,” two of them also offered minors.
Baghdad Mullah Said Raad explained to an undercover BBC reporter that under Sharia law, marriages for pleasure can last exactly as long as a man wants.
“A man can marry any number of women. You can marry a girl for half an hour, and immediately after the marriage is completed, you can immediately marry the next.”
From nine and older
When a journalist asked him whether a “marriage of pleasure” with a child is permissible, the answer was: “Just see that she does not lose her virginity.”
“You can caress her, lie with her, touch her body, her breasts … You cannot enter her from the front, but anal sex is permissible,” the mullah added. When asked what would happen if the girl was hurt, he shrugged: “Can she bear the pain – it will remain between you.”
A clergyman from Karbala named Sheikh Salawi asked a journalist if he could make a muta with a 12-year-old girl. “Yes, from nine and older – there are no problems here. According to Sharia, this is not a problem,” Salawi replied.
Like Said Raad, he only noted that it was important to preserve the girl’s virginity. Weasels and anal sex are permissible with the consent of the child, he said, and after a while added: “Do whatever you want.”
Phone Marriage
To find out the procedure for concluding a temporary marriage, the reporter, in an interview with Saeed Raad, spoke about a fictional 13-year-old girl named Shaima with whom he wanted to enter into muta. “Shaim” was portrayed by a BBC journalist.
Saeed Raad did not need to meet with Shaim’s parents. He entered into a marriage by telephone, from a taxi in which he rode with a reporter.
“Do you agree, Shaim, to marry this man for a fee of 150 thousand dinars (125 dollars) per day?” – asked the mullah portraying Shaim journalist. After the express ceremony was over, he announced: “Now you are husband and wife, and you can be together.”
The priest took $ 200 from a reporter for this ceremony. The fate of the Shayima did not seem to bother him too much.
Under the guise of religion
Journalists talked with a married man who regularly uses the services of clergymen for the conclusion of temporary marriages. “The 12-year-olds are very much appreciated, they are still“ fresh. ”This will be expensive – $ 500, $ 700, and $ 800. And this is only the amount that the mullah will get,” he explains.
This man is sure that he is acting in accordance with the laws of his religion. “If a mullah says that marriage for pleasure is halal, it is not considered a sin.”
Activist Yanar Mohammed, who runs a network of women’s shelters in Iraq, says that in such situations, women are treated as goods and not as people.
“It’s not forbidden to use the goods in a certain way. But they preserve their virginity for the big deal they have to do,” she says. Under the “big deal” refers to marriage.
A girl who has lost her virginity is considered unfit for marriage. She may even be threatened with death at the hands of her own family because she “brought shame to her family.”
“Only women and girls always pay for it,” says Yanar Mohammed.
Pimping
The journalists managed to record with a hidden camera clergymen who offered to get very young girls for them.
In addition, they spoke with one of these girls, who claims – and she has witnesses – that the mullah made her a prostitute.
The filmmakers also filmed in a hidden camera a clergyman offering a young woman to a reporter for a 24-hour temporary marriage. In fact, this mullah acted as a pimp.
When the reporter refused to enter into a “marriage of pleasure,” the clergyman suggested that he needed a very young girl, and volunteered to find one.
Censure
Image captionA mosque in Karbala is one of the main Shiite shrines
Gait Tamimi, a former high-ranking Shiite theologian, was forced to leave Iraq because he criticized fundamentalism. Now he lives in London.
He condemns the clergy who are entering into temporary marriages, especially those who offer men very young girls. “What this person is talking about is a crime that should be punishable by law,” he said.
Some Shiite preachers argue that Sharia law allows sex with children. Tamimi calls on Shiite Islam leaders to condemn this practice.
Two of the three clergymen recorded on a hidden camera by the BBC call themselves followers of the great Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who is considered the spiritual leader of Iraqi Shiites.
But here is what Ali Sistani himself said to the BBC: “If this happens as you describe, then we unconditionally condemn it. Temporary marriage should not be a tool for selling sex and should not be used to humiliate women.”
The representative of the Iraqi government commented on the results of the investigation: “If women do not report these clergy to the police, it is difficult for the authorities to do anything.”
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