Footnotes:
[1] The term misyar in colloquial Arabic in the Gulf states means "visit." The term shows that these marriages are based on visits by the husband to the wife, and not on life together in one home. In other Arab states the phenomenon also exists, but is called by other names. See Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), April 30, 2006; Al-Arabiyya TV, April 28, 2006.
[2] The Saudi daily Al-Watan, for example, reported on emails offering services providing religiously valid misyar marriages to a virgin for 4,500 riyals, and to a non-virgin for 3,000 riyals. See Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), April 29, 2006.
[3] http://www.themwl.org/Fatwa/default.aspx?d=1&cidi=162&l=AR&cid=13, April 10, 2006.
[4] The phenomenon of the "older single woman" is extremely widespread in Arab society. Saudi author Maram ‘Abd Al-Rahman Makawi has pointed out a number of the main causes of the problem in Saudi society: objections on the part of the woman's guardian to her marriage due to tribal, regional, racial, color, or familial considerations; objections to her marrying a non-professional or a manual laborer; exaggerated dowry demands; objections to her marrying someone she loves in order to punish her; and objections to her marrying a non-Saudi. See Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), March 5, 2006.
Divorce is also very common in Arab society. The novel Girls of Riyadh, by Saudi author Rajaa Al-Sanie, focuses on the difficulties faced by divorced women. The book tells of the love lives of four young Saudi women attending the University of Riyadh. Two of them are divorced, one of whom was in a marriage arranged by her family after meeting her future husband only once. She moved with her husband to Chicago, so that he could complete his studies, but her husband showed no interest in her and had an affair with a Japanese-American woman. She became pregnant in order to try to win his affection, but after hearing the news her husband divorced her and sent her back to her parents in Riyadh, with her child, where her family prevented her from leaving the house so as to avoid gossip. Another girl had been engaged to a man who divorced her because she gave herself to him before their official wedding ceremony; she then fell in love with an upper-class Saudi bachelor who would not marry her because she was divorced. After he married a cousin of his, he offered to continue their relationship, but she refused, and ended up marrying her cousin. The other two girls also had many troubles in their personal lives, and only one had a happy end to her story. For a complete synopsis of the book, see www.rajaa.net/v2/english.htm .
[5] http://www.themwl.org/Fatwa/default.aspx?d=1&cidi=162&l=AR&cid=13, April 10, 2006.
[6] The examples here are taken from the matchmaking website http://stones.jeeran.com/%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%81%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%87/index.html. The site provides participants' email addresses and sometimes their telephone numbers.
[7] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 25, 2006.
[8] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), July 13, 2006.
[9] 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), June 6, 2006.
[10] 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), June 6, 2006, May 30, 2006.
[11] http://www.aljazeera.net/channel/archive/archive?ArchiveId=90777
[12] Other differences between misyar marriage and mut'a marriage were discussed by Saudi university lecturer and cleric Dr. Muhammad Al-Nujeimi. In addition to the fact that misyar marriage is not - in contrast to mut'a marriage - limited in time, and divorce is required in the event of separation, in misyar marriage the man is forbidden from taking more than four wives, and if one of the spouses dies, the other has the right of inheritance. However, in mut'a marriage, Dr. Al-Nujeimi explains, the man can take more than four wives, because the marriage is not a complete marriage, as it lacks proper foundation and proper religious legal conditions and thus there is no right of inheritance between the spouses. See www.itijahat.com/news/news_p12.htm .
[13] Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), June 5, 2006.
[14] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), April 26, 2006.
[15] Al-Ittihad (UAE), May 15, 2006.
[16] The Washington Post (U.S.), June 29, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062900063_pf.html http://www.zu.ac.ae/leadership2006/roladashti.aspx
[17] Elaph, April 18, 2006.
[18] 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), June 20, 2006.
In other societies it's called an affair.