mutat

M3U1T1A1T1
/ˈmutɑt/

noun

A compensation gift given to a woman when divorced or repudiated by her husband.

UncommonScrabble 7

Meanings

nounmutat (uncountable)
  1. uncountableIslamA compensation gift given to a woman when divorced or repudiated by her husband.

    Relying on Qur'an, Sura II, verse 236, Nasir (1990a, p. 144; 1990b, pp. 96-98) shows that the amount of mutat is a matter of goodwill and of custom.

    1998, David Pearl, Werner Menski, Muslim family law, →ISBN, page 184
    3 more examples

    Once it has had three steers, the new owner can 'cut the linkage' (mutat) by giving back an ox and six goats or so, depending on the practice in a particular area, and the original owner will give away the ox in exchange for another calf, which will create a new cattle lineage.

    2007, David J. Ndegwah, Biblical Hermeneutics as a Tool for Inculturation in Africa, page 121

    This is a ruling agreed upon by the Shi’ahs with the reservation that if the husband should die before consummation, without having specified a dower, nor set any portion for his wife in the contract, then nothing is due to her by way of dower or gift (mutat) (Ref. Al-Hilli, p. 21).

    2009, Jamal J. Ahmad Nasir (editor), The Status of Women under Islamic Law and Modern Islamic Legislation (third edition), BRILL, chapter thirteen: “The Dower”, § 5: ‘Entitlement to the Dower’, page 95

    This argument confirms that in traditional Muslim jurisprudence the concept of some kind of compensation for the divorced Muslim wife, in the form of mata or mutat, was not unknown.

    2013, Werner Menski, Modern Indian Family Law, →ISBN, page 284

Origin

  1. Arabicمُتْعَة
  2. Englishmutat

Borrowed from Arabic مُتْعَة (mutʕa). Doublet of mut'ah.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

mutat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mutat

MLA

“mutat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mutat. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mutat,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mutat.

Source: mutat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.