Certain sects of Islam- primarily the Shiite- believe in principals like Mut'ah. That’s a temporary marriage. It’s primary purpose isn’t just to have sex, but in modern times that’s how it’s often used (or according to some abused.) The marriage traditionally was for a term of months or years, but can be days or hours. Dating is basically forbidden- so the clause would allow people who might or might not be comparable to date and spend time together but stay true to their religion. Divorce is a relatively straight forward process providing there aren’t shared finances or disputes or children or political alliances etc. courts that recognize Mut'ah marriages (there should be a contract and certain customs followed to legitimize it) will respect the agreement in general.
There was a BBC article about this which is really eye-opening on this practice and how it can be very harmful to young vulnerable women. If you search "BBC the teenager who's been married too many times to count" it should come up.
It’s quite sad. There are theoretically good intentions behind the idea- in a tradition where men and women have little chance to get to know each other outside marriage and traditional divorces aren’t as viable an option- the IDEA of a “trial marriage” as an alternative to something like arranged marriage is theoretically a move towards protecting people. But the spirit of the law is abused in the name of the letter of the law and it quite often becomes a vehicle for suffering, especially of women.
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