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Injunctions of the Qur'an
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Ahadith of the Holy Prophet
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Polygamy in the Light of Qur'an and Hadith
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Law in Pakistan
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Views of the Scholars
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Polygamy in Other Societies
I‑
INJUNCTIONS OF THE QUR'AN
The Holy
Qur'an has restricted man's right of contracting plural marriages to a
maximum of four at a time, while the rights of wives in case of multiple
marriages of the husband have been protected. The relevant injunctions
of the Qur'an are:
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If ye
fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry
women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye
shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a
captive) that your right hands possess. That will be more suitable, to
prevent you from doing injustice. (4:3)
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Ye are
never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your
ardent desire : but turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to
leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). If ye come to a friendly
understanding and practise self‑restraint, Allah is Oft‑Forgiving, Most
Merciful. But if they disagree (and must part), Allah will provide
abundance for all from His All‑reaching bounty: for Allah is He that careth for all and is Wise. (4: 129‑130)
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II ‑
AHADITH OF THE PROPHET
Traditions
of the Prophet of Islam on polygamy and the rights of the wives are:
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Ibn
Umar reported that Gailan‑b‑Salamah al‑Saqafi accepted Islam while he
had ten wives of the Days of Ignorance.‑ They also embraced Islam with
him. The Holy Prophet said: Keep four and be separate from the rest.
(Ahmad, Tirmizi and Ibn Majah)
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Naufal‑b‑Mu'wayiah reported: I accepted Islam while there were five
wives with me. I asked the Prophet who said: Separate one and keep
four... (Sharhi Sunnat)
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Ayesha
reported that the Messenger of Allah used to have turns among his wives
and do justice. He used to say: O Allah! this is my division in
what I can control. So don't blame me in what Thou dost control and I
cannot control. (Tirmizi, Abu Daud, Ibn Majah)
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Abu Hurairah reported from the Holy Prophet who said: when a man has two
wives and he does not deal equitably between them, he will come on the
Resurrection Day with a side hanging down. (Tirmizi, Abu Daud, Nisai)
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III ‑
POLYGAMY IN THE LIGHT OF QUR'AN AND HADITH
Rights
conferred on woman in case of polygamy of the man are discussed below in
the light of Qur'an and Hadith:
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The
Qur'an, in its verse 3 of chapter 4 permits polygamy and the following
hard and fast rules have been laid down about it:
a).If you
fear that you would not be able to deal fairly and equitably with the
orphans, you should marry the women who (have these orphans with them
and) seem good to you.
b). You
are. permitted to marry even two, three or four women but not more at a
time provided you can treat them justly and equitably.
c). If you
have reason to fear that you cannot do justice with all of them, you
should marry only one.
'Adl'
or justice has not been defined in this verse. However all the
commentators of the Qur'an unanimously hold that justice in this verse
means equality of treatment in food, clothing and lodgement. Mu'tazilite
doctors hold that in addition to food, clothing and lodging there must
be equal treatment also in love and affection.
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The
Qur'an in its verse 129 of chapter 4 holds that you cannot deal equally
with all of your wives however much you wish. Therefore, you are
directed not to incline towards one so much that you leave the other in
suspense. There may be so many factors on account of which it would be
difficult for the husband to deal equally between them. For example,
difference in temperament, appearance, education, family background,
ague ability to look after the household affairs, etc., may cause the
husband to prefer one above the other. However, the husband must try his
best to keep balance and accord them equal treatment in the things on
which he has control like food, clothing and lodging. On the things on
which he has no control like love and affection, even there he should
not display by his outward behaviour that he loves one wife and hates
the other one. The husband should not incline towards his favourite one
altogether and neglect the other one completely. On the basis of this
verse (4: 129) some people try to establish that monogamy is the only
form of marriage which is lawful since polygamy is permitted with the
condition of justice and in this verse, Allah has Himself pointed out
that maintaining justice between wives is impossible. However this
assumption is not correct when we look at the second sentence of this
verse which reads: "But turn not altogether away (from one), leaving her
as in suspense."
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There is
almost consensus of opinion among all the scholars of the Qur'an and
doctors of Islamic Law that verse 3 of chapter 4 of the Qur'an permits
polygamy. However the injunction is in the nature of permission and not
in the nature of order or command. The Qur'an simply permits its
followers to contract plural marriages and does not command them to do
so. It also restricts the maximum number of wives at four and the
permission is also subject to the proviso that the husband must do
justice with all the wives and deal with them equally. I think there is
another condition or proviso also that the choice of wives for plural
marriages must be from among the widows or orphan girls. It is only in
this sense that the relevance of the opening sentence of this verse (4:
3) is justified which reads thus: "And if ye fear that ye will not
deal fairly by the Orphans, marry of the women..." If this sentence of
the verse under discussion is read and considered with the preceding
verse (4: 2), the meanings become more clear. "Give unto orphans their
wealth. Exchange not the good for the bad (in your management thereof),
nor absorb their wealth into your wealth. Lo! that would be a great sin.
And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the
women, who seem good to you, two or three or four..." (4: 2 and 4: 3).
It is apparent from this that the Qur'an is exhorting its followers to
do justice with the orphans who are under their care. It is against this
background that polygamy has been permitted so that they may be able to
do justice with them and treat them fairly by marrying the mothers or
the sisters of the orphans and thus becoming their close relations. In
that way they would feel and develop love, affection and tenderness
towards the orphans and would treat them kindly as if the orphans were
their own children.
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The Qur'an
did not, in fact, introduce polygamy. That existed in pre Islamic Arabia
and also in the neighbouring communities. A1‑Qur'an actually limited the
number of wives, which could be any among the pagans, to four and also
subjected polygamy to a very strict condition of doing justice between
the wives. Traditions of the Prophet of Islam also support this
interpretation. It is reported that Gailan, the Chief of Ta'if had ten
wives when he accepted Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed
him to keep four and separate the others. Similarly he allowed Naufal to
keep four wives and divorce the fifth. The Prophet (peace be upon him)
also declared: when a man has two wives and he does not deal equitably
between them, he will come on the Day of Judgement with a side hanging
down." Thus he enjoined upon his companions and followers who indulge in
polygamy to deal equitably with their wives.
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The
Commentators and the scholars of the Qur'an through centuries have
laboured hard and collected a valuable treasure of learning about the
permission given by Islam regarding polygamy. They have also discussed
the exceptional and extra‑ordinary circumstances which not only justify
but also make it essential that one must resort to plural marriages.
Some of these exceptional situations which justify polygamy are
discussed as under: ‑
a) First
such exception is war. In case of war men are generally killed in large
numbers. Thus the number of men is decreased while the number of females
increases specially of helpless widows and orphans. If polygamy is not
permitted to support the widows and the orphans and also to bring the
unmarried women into marriage bond, it would lead not only to economic
misery of many families but also to immoral practices like prostitution,
adultery, sexual anarchy etc. Such a social disintegration can be
averted only if a man is permitted by law to have more than one wife.
b) The wife
may be sterile and the natural desire for progeny may lead the husband
to contract another marriage, who does not want to divorce the first
wife but at the same time wants to have children.
c) Some men
may, by nature, be sexually very strong. So they cannot remain content
with one wife. A woman is disabled on account of menses for almost a
week in every month and besides that, pregnancy, delivery and weaning of
the child is spread over almost a period of more than two .years. During
these periods, she is unable to meet the husband's biological needs.
Hence the need of the husband for the second wife.
d) The wife
may be chronically diseased and unable to satisfy the sexual urge of her
husband. In certain cases she may be able to perform marital obligations
but her fragile health may not withstand pregnancies and child births.
Hence a second marriage in such a situation may become a necessity.
e) Dr.
Hamidullah offers yet another interesting situation which justifies
Islam's permission of polygamy. He says: "Supposing there is a case, in
which a woman has young children, and, falls chronically ill, becoming
incapable of doing the household work. The husband has no means of
employing a maid‑servant for the purpose, not to speak of the natural
requirements of the conjugal life. Supposing also that the sick woman
gives her consent to her husband to take a second wife, and that a woman
is found who agrees to marry the individual in question. Western law
would rather permit immorality than a legal marriage to bring happiness
to this afflicted home."
f) It is
also said that prostitution can be controlled by the introduction of
polygamy.
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IV ‑ LAW IN
PAKISTAN
Law of
polygamy in Pakistan is governed by The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance,
1961. Section 6 of this Ordinance provides:
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No man,
during the subsistence of an existing marriage, shall, except with the
previous permission in writing of the Arbitration Council, contract
another marriage, nor shall any such marriage contracted without such
permission be registered under this Ordinance.
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An
application for permission under subsection (1) shall be submitted to
the Chairman in the prescribed manner, together with the prescribed fee,
and shall state the reasons for proposed marriage, and whether the
consent of the existing wife or wives has been obtained thereto.
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On
receipt of the application under subsection (2) the Chairman shall ask
the applicant and his existing wife or wives each to nominate a
representative, and the Arbitration Council so constituted may, if
satisfied that the proposed
marriage is
necessary and just, grant, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be
deemed fit, the permission applied for.
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In deciding
the application the Arbitration Council shall record its reasons for the
decision, and any party may, in the prescribed manner, within the
prescribed period, and on payment of the prescribed fee, prefer an
application for revision, in the case of West Pakistan, to the Collector
and, in the case of East Pakistan, to the Sub‑Divisional Officer
concerned and this decision shall be final and shall not be called in
question in any Court.
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Any man
who contracts another marriage without the permission of the Arbitration
Council shall‑
(a) pay
immediately the entire amount of the dower, whether prompt or deferred,
due to the existing wife or wives, which amount, if not so paid, shall
be recoverable as arrears of land revenue; and
(b) on
conviction upon complaint be punishable with simple imprisonment which
may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to five thousand
rupees, or with both.
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V ‑ VIEWS
OF THE SCHOLARS
Views of
some eminent Scholars on the subject are cited below:
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Abdullah
Yusuf Ali writes: "The unrestricted number of wives of the "Times of
Ignorance" was now strictly limited to a maximum of four, provided you
could treat them with perfect equality, in material things as well as in
affection and immaterial things. As this condition is most difficult to
fulfil, I understand the recommendation to be towards monogamy."
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According to Maulana Fazl‑ul‑Karim, monogamy is the rule in Islam, while
polygamy is an exception. He writes: The Qur'an clears up this idea by
saying: Marry such women as seem good to you, two, three or four; but if
you fear that you cannot do equal justice to them all, you should marry
only one ‑ 4: 3 Q. Thus it is seen that the condition of equal treatment
among several wives has been, laid in order to the desirability of a
monogamous life. It has again been emphasised by the Qur'an saying: And
you have not in your power to do justice among the wives though you may
covet it, but be not disinclined from one with total disinclination, so
that you leave her as if hanging in the air (4: 129Q). From these two
verses, it is clear that Islam enjoins taking only one wife but it keeps
reservation and safe‑guard to meet the cases of emergency. As Islam
gives us a perfect code of marriage without any necessity of future
legislation, it kept its laws elastic in order that they may be
adaptable in every circumstance and in every condition of society.
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Dr.
Hamidullah, in his famous work ‘Introduction to Islam', writes: "In
fact, Muslim law is nearer to reason. For, it admits polygamy when a
woman herself consents to such a kind of life. The law does not
impose polygamy, but only permits it in certain cases. We have just
remarked that it depends solely on the agreement of the woman. This is
true of the first wife as well as with the second one in prospect. It
goes without saying that the second woman may refuse to marry a man who
has already one wife; we have seen that no one can force a woman to
enter into a marriage tie without her own consent. If the woman agrees
to be a "co‑wife" it is not the law which should be considered as cruel
and unjust with regard to women and as favouring only men. As to the
first wife, the act of polygamy depends on her. For, at the time of her
marriage, she may demand the acceptance and insertion, in the document
of the nuptial contract, of the clause that her husband would practise
monogamy."
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Syed
Ameer Ali, in his renowned book `The Spirit of Islam', writes: "It is
worthy of note that the clause in the Koran which .contains the
permission to contract four contemporaneous marriages, is immediately
followed by a sentence which cuts down the significance of the preceding
passage to its normal and legitimate dimensions. The passage runs thus,
"You may marry two, three, or four wives, but not more." The subsequent
lines declare, "but if you cannot deal equitably and justly with all,
you shall marry only one". The extreme importance of this
proviso, bearing especially in mind the meaning which is attached to the
word "equity" (‘adl) in the Koranic teachings, has not been lost
sight of by the great thinkers of the Moslem world. `Adl signifies not
merely equality of .treatment in the matter of lodgement, clothing and
other domestic requisites, but also complete equity in love, affection
and esteem. As absolute justice in matters of feeling is impossible, the
Koranic prescription amounted in reality to a prohibition. This view was
propounded as early as the third century of the Hegira. In the reign of
al‑Mamun, the first Mu'tazilite doctors taught that the developed
Koranic laws inculcated monogamy."
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Maulana
Omar Ahmad Osmani holds that the general rule is monogamy while polygamy
is an exception limited to the above‑mentioned circumstances. In order
to prove the general rule he refers to the meaning of zauj which
means a pair or couple, husband or wife, an individual when consorting
with another. The word zauj is used in Arabic for the husband as
well as the wife but the idea is of a pair or couple (one man and one
wife) and not of one man and several wives. According to the Qur'an
mankind was "created from a single soul and from it (was) created its
mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and
women". Only one mate was thus created for Adam and both of them were
made to dwell in the Garden (Jannah). Thus Adam is proved to have
only one wife. While dealing with the stage through which the sperm has
to pass before the human being is born it is said: "And made of him a
pair, the male and female." The rule of zauj is thus one man and
his one mate. (Quoted by Aftab Hussain J. in Status of Woman in Islam.)
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Maulana
Maududi writes about the permission of polygamy by the Qur'an: "It
should also be noted. that this verse restricts polygamy with the
provision of justice to all the wives; therefore whoso abuses this
permission without fulfilling the condition of justice and marries more
wives than one tries to deceive Allah. The courts of an Islamic State
are, therefore, empowered to enforce justice in order to rectify the
wrong done to a wife or wives. At the same time it is absolutely wrong
to conclude from the proviso of justice, attached to this Commandment,
that this verse was really meant to abolish polygamy. This is not the
view of the Qur'an, but of those Muslims who have been overawed by the
Christians of the West. They say that the Qur'an is also against
polygamy but it did not abolish it directly because it did not consider
it expedient at the time for the custom had become very common. Instead
of this, it allows polygamy provided that justice is done to all the
wives. As this condition is most difficult to fulfil, the recommendation
is towards monogamy. Obviously, this way of thinking is the result of
mental slavery, because polygamy in itself is not an evil for in some
cases it becomes a real cultural and moral necessity. There are some
people, who, even if they wished, cannot remain content with one wife.
Polygamy comes to their rescue and saves them and the society in general
from the harms of unlicensed sexual indulgences. That is why the Qur'an
allows polygamy to such people with the explicit condition of doing
justice to all the wives.
As regards
those who consider polygamy to be an evil, they are free to oppose the
Qur'an and condemn polygamy, but they have no right to ascribe their own
perverted views to the Qur'an, for it makes this lawful in very clear
language without employing any words that might be stretched in any way
to imply that the Qur'an means to abolish it."
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According to Maulana Omar Ahmad Osmani, verse three of the fourth
chapter applies only to orphan girls and widows and does not allow
plurality of wives from amongst other women. The relevant words of the
translation of the verse are: ‘And if ye fear that ye will not deal
fairly by the orphans, marry of the women who seem good to you, two or
three or four...’ ‘The women’ is the translation of an nisaa
while ‘orphans' is the translation of the word al yatama. The
argument is that the definite article al in alnisaa must
refer to yatama i.e. orphans otherwise the word would have been
sufficient to convey the sense of generality of women.
He further
says, and quotes Jassas in support of it, that the word yatama
does not mean orphans only but also includes widows and divorcees. Women
covered by either category abounded in the then Muslim Society. The
meaning of the verse is that men can marry up to four wives from among
these helpless orphans and widows provided they are capable of
maintaining justice and equality between them. The permission to marry
more than one wife is limited to the emergency referred to above and is
in no way general in nature. (Quoted by Aftab Hussain J. in "Status of
the women in Islam".)
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On the
question why Islam permits polygamy (man having more than one wife) and
why not polyandry (woman having more than one husband), Muhammad Asad
says: "As regards the permission to marry more than one wife (up to the
maximum of four), it is so restricted by the condition, "if you have
reason to fear that you might not be able to treat them with equal
fairness, then [marry only] one", as to make such plural marriages
possible only in quite exceptional cases and under exceptional
circumstances. Still, one might ask why the same latitude has not been
given to women as well; but the answer is simple. Notwithstanding the
spiritual factor of love which influences the relations between man and
woman, the determinant biological reason for the sexual urge is, in both
sexes, procreation: and whereas a woman can, at one time, conceive a
child from one man only and has to carry it for nine months before she
can conceive another, a man can beget a child every time he cohabits
with a woman. Thus, while nature would have been merely wasteful if it
had produced a polygamous instinct in. woman, man's polygamous
inclination is biologically, justified. It is, of course, obvious that
the biological factor is only one ‑ and by no means always the most
important ‑ of the aspects of marital love; none the less, it is a basic
factor and, therefore, decisive in the institution of marriage as such.
With the wisdom that always takes human nature fully into account,
Islamic Law undertakes no more than the safeguarding of the
socio‑biological function of marriage (which includes also care of the
progeny), allowing a man to have more than one wife and not allowing a
woman to have more than one husband at one time; while the spiritual
problem of marriage, being imponderable and therefore outside the scope
of law, is left to the discretion of the partners. In any event‑‑since
marriage in Islam is a purely civil contract ‑ recourse to divorce is
always open to either of the two partners.
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In the
words of Dr. Annie Besant, "There is pretended monogamy in the
West but there is really a polygamy without responsibility; the mistress
is cast off when the man is weary of her, and sinks gradually to be a
woman of the street, for the first lover has no responsibility for her
future and she is a hundred times worse off than the sheltered wife and
mother in a polygamous home. When we see the thousands of miserable
women who crowd the streets of Western towns during the night, we must
surely feel that it does not be lie within the Western mouth to reproach
Islam for polygamy. It is better for woman, happier for woman, more
respectable for woman, to live in polygamy, united to one man only, with
the legitimate child in her arms, and surrounded with respect, than to
be reduced, cast out in the streets ‑ perhaps with an I illegitimate
child.
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French
scholar, Dr. Le Bon says, "A return to polygamy, the natural
relationship between the sexes, would‑remedy many evils: prostitution,
venereal diseases, abortion, the misery of illegitimate children, the
misfortune of millions of unmarried women resulting from the
disproportion between the sexes, adultery and even jealousy, since the
disregarded wife would find consolation in her cognizance of not being
secretly deceived by her husband."
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Dr.
Westermarck gives another reason in support of polygamy. He mentions
sexual abstinence during pregnancy. There are many women who feel less
or no desire for sexual relationships during periods of pregnancy and
give preference to total abstinence. Some experts even regard sexual
intercourse during periods of pregnancy as very injurious to the health
of the woman as well as of her unborn baby. According ‑to him, "Another
ground for polygamy is the strong and innate polygamous instinct of men
as compared to women, who are generally monogamous by nature. The man's
taste for variety in sex experience is more intense than the woman's and
this has led to the often repeated statement that he is instinctively
polygamous."
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Encyclopedia Americana writes: "Although monogamy is the most prevalent
form of marriage, studies have shown that it is not considered the ideal
or preferred type. In a sample of 565 of the world's societies, 75%
favoured polygamyy, slightly less than 25% favoured monogamy, and less
than 1°r6 preferred polyandry. Nevertheless, most of the marriages in
these societies are monogamous."
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VI ‑
POLYGAMY IN OTHER SOCIETIES
Since times
immemorial, polygamy has been a recognised and established institution
in almost all human societies. It has remained a part and parcel of all
known civilisations in history. Its practice was common among the
royalty but sometimes it was also practised by the common people.
Among the
Hindus in India, polygamy prevailed from the earliest times. There was
apparently no restriction as to the number of wives a man might have.
There are many instances in the Rig Veda and other Hindu Scriptures
mentioning the multiple wives of Hindu kings and heroes. A high caste
Brahmin, even in modern times, is privileged to marry as many wives as
he chooses. Medes, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Athenians,
Phoenicians, Thracians, Lydians and the Pelasgians all practised
polygamy.
Polygamy
was common in Biblical and Talmudic times and most of the famous
Prophets took several wives. Hadrat Ibrahim (Abraham) had two wives,
Hadrat Yaqub (Jacob) and Hadrat Musa (Moses) had four each, Hadrat Dawud
(David) had nine wives and Hadrat Sulaiman (Solomon) had one thousand
and seven hundred wives and three hundred slave girls
(Encyclopaedia of Seerah).
Mosaic Law
did not impose any restriction on the number of wives a Hebrew husband
could have. In later times, the
Talmud of
Jerusalem restricted the number to the ability of the husband to
maintain the wives properly.
Even in
Christianity which has become synonymous with monogamy, Jesus Christ
himself never uttered a word against polygamy. Rather some famous
Christian theologians like Luther, Bucer, etc, do not hesitate to deduce
the legality of polygamy from the parable of the ten virgins, spoken of
in the Gospel of Matthew (25: 1‑12); for Christ envisages there the
possibility of the marriage of one man with as many as ten girls
simultaneously. If the Christians do not want to profit by the
permission (which the founder of their religion seems to have given
them) the law is not changed for all that.
Though
Islamic Law permits polygamy yet the reforms introduced by Islam in this
institution are praise‑worthy. It restricted the number of wives to four
and tied it up with the condition of justice and equal treatment with
all wives.. Since it is not humanly possible to fulfil this condition,
many Muslim scholars like Abdullah Yusuf Ali take it as a recommendation
towards monogamy.
Encyclopaedia Britannica writes: "Monogamy as the unique and exclusive
form of marriage, in the sense that bigamy is regarded as a grave
criminal offence and a sin as well as a sacrilege, is very rare indeed.
Such an exclusive ideal and such a rigid view of marriage is perhaps not
to be found outside the modern, relatively recent development of Western
culture. It is not implied in Christian doctrine even."
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