Why Polygamy

By

al-Hajj Ahmad H. Sheriff

TEHRAN - IRAN.

IS

Allowed in Islam

Revised Edition 1977/1397

Published by:

World Organization For Islamic ServicesP. O. Box No.11365-1545

Tehran - IRAN.

In the Name of Allah,The All-compassionate, The All-merciful

Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all being;the All-compassionate, the All-merciful;the Master of the Day of Judgement;

. Thee only we serve, and to Thee alone we prayfor succour;

Guide us in the straight path;the path of those whom Thou hast blessed,

not of those against whom Thou art wrathful,nor of those who are astray.

O' Allah! send your blessings to the head ofyour messengers and the last of

your prophets,Muhammad and his pure and cleansed progeny.

Also send your blessings to all yourprophets and envoys.

Dear Reader

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World Organization for Islamic Services( WOFIS)

CONTENTS

Page

List of Transliteration ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... IForeword ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3Introduction .................................... 5Polygamy: An Ancient Institution ... ... ... ... 9Polygamy: According to Hindu Law ... ... ... 10Polygamy: According to Jewish Law ... ... ... 13Polygamy: According to Christianity ... ... ... 13Polygamy in Islam ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25Polygamy: A Natural Law ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 27Does Polygamy Encourage Sensuality? ... ... ... 33Does Polygamy Injure theFeelings of Women? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 41Polygamy vs Family Planning ... ... ... ... ... ... 45"Polygamy or Prostitution?" ... ... ... ... ... ... 46

TRANSLITERATION

FOREWORD

Polygamy: What a disgusting title apparently

it is!

What is particularly amusing is that thosevery people who accept the evils of permissivesociety and consider it consistent with civili-zation find polygamy abhorrent.

These people are fully aware, that it is notpossible to establish a law whereby a man canderive full satisfaction with one wife. These verypeople who proclaim maximum love for onewoman, have been found to have establishedillicit sexual affairs with others.

When these people come to know of afaithful Muslim with two wives who enjoymaximum and equal love from their husband,

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and who has no illicit sexual relations in his life,they start to redicule the idea of polygamy,citing examples to prove that such a situation isnot practicable.

Polygamy is not necessarily practiced tofulfil the sexual urge. The aim of polygamy is tostop the degeneration of society and preventpromiscuity. It ensures maximum fulfilment forboth men and women while keeping the societysafe and spreading love within the society. Sucha society can easily be built when polygamy isallowed.

Polygamy, being a controversial issue re-quires deep thought and serious debate. Leavingaside the issue of establishing legal polygamy, letus examine the opinion, thought and critism ofthe Westerners and where they have gone wrong.

This booklet presents the arguments forallowing polygamy in a lucid manner.

WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR ISLAMIC SERVICES(Board of Writing, Translation and Publication)

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In the Name of Allah the Beneficent,the Merciful

INTRODUCTION

Islam has allowed a man to marry morethan one wife. This has been done for thepurpose of solving many social and domesticproblems which a family is confronted withfrom time to time. Many are the times whenthe general welfare of both man and womandepends upon the husband marrying anotherwife.

As Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, Chief Mis-

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sionary of the Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania,wrote in the `Submission to the Commission onthe Law of Marriage and Divorce and Matrimo-nial Status of Women,' which was appointed bythe Kenya Government:-

"Polygamy: African society was, and to acertain extent is, a polygamous society. Islamalso permits polygamy. It has allowed fourwives at a time and has enjoined equailtyin treatment of all wives.

"It should be remembered that polygamyis not a compulsory thing nor is it advocated.It is just a permission with certain limitation andconditions. And in some of the circumstancesthis permission proves extremely useful.

"For example: If the wife is chronically ill,or is barren, or for some other reasons it is notdesirable for the couple to live as husband andwife. The remedy offered by certain societies is

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to divorce the wife and remarry. But is thisjustice? Is it kind or noble to turn out awoman in her old or middle age from herhome, just because she remains sick or shehappens to be barren? Islam discourages suchcruelty by permitting polygamy." (The Light,vol.1, nos.ll-12)

Unfortunately, the West, and particularlythe Christian church leaders, have used this per-mission of polygamy for criticizing Islam. Theirmotive seems just to oppose Islam, hoping there-by to hamper its progress, by degrading it in theeyes of the world.

In their propaganda against this permission,the - critics present the following arguments:-

a) that marrying more than one wife isagainst the natural law;

b) that this permission encourages lustand sensuality, which is detrimental

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to the family well-being;

c) that the system of polygamy has socialdisadvantages, injures the delicate feel-ings of women; causes deep frustrationsand disappointments, giving rise to thefeeling of hate and hatred which upsetsthe proper bringing-up of children;

d) that this lam disturbs the family-planning, as plurality of wives naturallyincreases the number of children; thisin its turn causes economic problems.

Before commenting on these objections,let us first examine whether it was Islam whichoriginally promulgated the system of polygamy,or it existed since pre-historic days. Also let ussee whether it is found in other religions. Thenwe should see on what grounds and with whatconditions has Islam allowed a man to marrymore than one wife. Does it offer solutions

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to the social problems facing many countriestoday?

POLYGAMY: AN ANCIENT INSTITUTION

S. V. Mir Ahmad Ali writes:-

"Polygamy was prevalent among all thenations of antiquity, not excluding the Hindusand Budhists. The world in general and Arabiain particular before the ministry of the HolyProphet was lying deeply buried under grosslicentiousness and depravity. Which historic factno educated one among us can ever contradict,particularly about the private life of the rulersof the states. The great king Dasarata, the fatherof Sri Rama, was polygamous. The ChristianMonarchs of Europe could not help themselvesagainst having wives more than one. Henrythe VIII of England had' as many as eight wives.

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Even the great Apostles of God like Abraham,Solomon and the others had wives more thanone." (Translation of the Holy Qur'an, foot-note no.499)

POLYGAMY: ACCORDING TOHINDU LAW

Further he writes:-

"There is a good deal of controversy as towhether polygamy is sanctioned by Hindu Law.According to Mann the Law on the subject isas follows:-

a) "For the first marriage of twice-bornmen (wives) of equal caste are recom-mended, but for those who throughdesire proceed (to marry again) thefollowing females, (chosen) according

to the (direct) order (of the castes)are most approved." (Here follows thelist of

women who may be approvedof). (Manu, iii 12)

A) "If twice-born men wed women of theirown and of other (lower castes), theseniority, honour, and habitation ofthose (wives) must be (settled) accordingto the order of the castes (Varna)."(Manu, ix 85)

c) "If, after one damsel has been shown,another be given to the bridegroom, `hemay marry them both" for the same pricethat Manu ordained." (Manu, viii 204)

d) "Among all (twice-born men) the wifeof equal caste alone (not a wife of adifferent caste by any means), shallpersonally attend her husband and assisthim in his daily sacred rites." (Manu,

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ix 86)

e) "But he who foolishly causes that (duty)to be performed by another while hiswife of equal caste is alive, is declaredby the ancients (to be) as (despicable)as a Kandala (spring from the) Braha-mana caste." (Manu, ix 87)

"The above quotations clearly indicate thatManu sanctioned polygamy, `and it is now quitesettled in the Courts of British India that aHindu is absolutely without restriction as to thenumber of his wives, any one may marry againwithout his wife's consent, or any justification,except his own wish." (Mayne, On Hindu Lawand Usage, p.113)*

* S. V. Mir Ahmad Ali, Ibid

POLYGAMY: ACCORDING TOJEWISH LAW

"If he take him another wife, her food,her raiment, and her duty of marriage shallhe not diminish."

It is evident to even a casual reader of OldTestament that not only is polygamy permittedbut also practised, and that regulations for thathave been stipulated in the scriptures.

POLYGAMY: ACCORDING TOCHRISTIANITY

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In Exodus (chap.21, ver.10) it is stated:-

The Christian writers say that "monogamy

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(i.e., marrying one wife only) is the divine ideal.The Creator constituted as a union between oneman and one woman (Gen. 2:18-24; Matt. 19:5;1 Cor. 6:16) He preserves the number of malespractically equal to the number of females."( The Westminster Dictionary of Bible, 1944edition)

We will talk about this supposed equalnumbers of males and females later on. Here Iwould like to quote from the Bible where Godaddresses David in the following words:-

"And I gave thee (David) thy master'shouse, and thy master's wives into thy bosom,and gave thee the House of Israel and ofJudah." (11 Sam. 12:8)

How is it that God Himself gave him his`master's wives' if His intention was to keepthe `one man with one woman' rule. Even inthe seventh generation after Adam we find that

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"Lamech took unto him two wives" (Gen.4:19); Abraham had three wives; Jacob had twowives besides concubines; Moses did not forbidit, instead he brought Laws to regulate it, as hasbeen mentioned in the previous heading.

Christians try to overcome these difficultiesimplying that the previous prophets had made amistake in marrying more than one wife. But theinsurmountable difficulty faces them in the caseof Moses. This is because Moses had brought aLaw from God, and if it was God's intention tomake marriage a `union between one man andone wife,' Why did 1le give Moses regulationsabout polygamy? The above-mentioned Diction-ary of Bible tries to gloss over this difficulty bysaying, "Moses,

who was correcting abuses,not suddenly abolishing them, did not forbidpolygamy, but discouraged it."

It is a claim which cannot be justified,because Moses himself married two wives: one.

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was Zipporah, daughter of Jethro (known inIslamic language as Shu'ayb), the other was aCushite woman whom Moses married in thesecond year of the sojourn of the Israelites inthe wilderness. (Num. 12:1)

There is no mention anywhere in thescriptures or any other writing that Zipporahwas not alive at that time.

So far about Moses and the Prophetsbefore him. Now we come to the prophetswho came after this supposed `discouraging.'We find that polygamy continued to be practisedeven after the time of Moses, as by Gideon,Elkanah, Saul, Rehoboam and countless others.For the details, see Judge. 8:30; I Sam. 1:2;II Sam. 12:8; 21:8.

Prophet "David took him more euncubinesand wives out of Jerusalem." (II Sam. 5:13).Prophet Solomon "had seven hundred wives,

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princesses and three hundred concubines."(I Kings, 11:3)

Now we come to the period after theministry of Jesus Christ. S.V. Mir Ahmad Aliwrites in his translation of the Holy Qur'an:-

"It has often been asserted that Christianityinterdicted polygamy, and made monogamyobligatory on all. Nothing can be farther fromthe truth.

"Ameer Ali, speaking of the general preva-lence of polygamy among all nations, remarks:-

'And so it was understood by the leadersof Christendom at various times that there is nointrinsic immorality or sinfulness in plurality ofwives. One of the greatest fathers of the ChristianChurch (St. Augustine) has declared that poly-gamy is not a crime where it is a legal institutionof a country, and the German reformers, even as

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late as the sixteenth century, allowed anddeclared valid the taking of a second or even athird wife, contemporaneously with the first,in default of issue, or any other cause.' (AmeerAli, Life and Teachings of Mohammad, p.220;and Mohamedan Law, vol.1I, p.23)

'When Christianity made its appearance

in Rome, history shows that polygamy wasrecognised and the early Christian Emperorsseem to have admitted its validity.' Says AmeerAli: -

'The Emperor Valentiniah II, by an Edict,allowed all the subjects of the Empire, if theypleased, to marry several wives; nor does itappear from the ecclesiastical history of thosetimes that the Bishops and the heads of theChristian churches made any objection to thislaw. Far from it, all the succeeding Emperorspractised polygamy, and the people generallywere not remiss in following their example.

Even the clergy often had wives. This state ofthe laws continued until the time of Justinian,who ... resulted in their embodiment in thecelebrated laws of Justinian. `But these lawsowed little to Christianity, at least directly.'The greatest adviser of Justinian was an atheistand a pagan. Even prohibition of polygamy byJustinian failed to check the tendency of theage.' "

(Ameer Ali,

Life and Teachings ofMohammad, pp.222-223) *

It should be mentioned here that Justinianwas in the thirteenth century of Christian era,it means that up to thirteenth century there wasno prohibition of polygamy in Christianity, at all.

The following paragraphs from An Apologyfor Mohammed and the Koran

(by John Daven-port) show clearly that polygamy was notfrowned upon by the Christian leaders up to

* S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali, Foot-Note no.499.

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at least the sixteenth century:-

"St. Chrysostom, speaking of Abrahamand Hagar, says, `These things were not thenforbidden.' So St. Augustine observes that `therewas a blamesless custom of one man havingmany wives, which at that time might be donein a way of duty, which now cannot be donebut from licentiousness, because, for the sake ofmultiplying posterity, no law forbad a pluralityof wives.

"Boniface, Confessor of Lower Germany,having consulted Pope Gregory, in the year 726,in order to know in what cases a husband mightbe allowed to have two wives, Gregory replied,on the 22nd November of the same year, inthese words - `If a wife be attacked by a maladywhich renders her unfit for conjugal intercourse,

* (See Grotius, De Jure, vol.i, p.268, note).

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the husband may marry another, but in thatcase he must allow his sick wife all necessarysupport and assistance.'

"Many works have been published in de-fence of polygamy even by writers professingChristianity. Bernardo Ochinus, General of theOrder of Capuchins, published, about the middleof the sixteenth century, dialogues in favourof the practice, and about the same timeappeared a treatise on behalf of a plurality ofwives; the author, whose real name was Lysarus,having assumed the pseudo one of TheophilusAleuthes.

"Selden proves, in his `Uxor Hebraica,'that polygamy was allowed not only amongthe Jews, but likewise arnong all other nations.

"But the most distinguished defender ofpolygamy was the celebrated John Milton, who,in his A Treatise on Christian Doctrine, (p.237

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et seq.) after quoting various passages from theBible in defence of the practice, says, `Moreover,God, in an allegorical fiction (Ezekiel, xxiii),represents Himself as having espoused two wives,Aholah and Aholiah, a mode of speaking whichJehavoh would by no means have employed,especially at such length even in a parable,nor, indeed, have taken upon himself such a char-acter at all, if the practice which it implied hadbeen intrinsically dishonourable or shameful.'

"On what grounds, then, can a practice beconsidered as so dishonourable or shamefulwhich is prohibited to no one even under theGospel; for that dispensation annuls none of themerely civil regulations which existed previouslyto its introduction ...

"Lastly, I argue as follows, from Hebrews,xiii. v.4:- Polygamy is either marriage, fornica-tion or adultery. The Apostle recognises nofourth state. Reverence for so many patriarchs

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who were polygamists will, I trust, deter everyone from considering it as fornication or adul-tery, for `wheremongers and adulterers God willjudge,'

whereas the patriarchs were the objectsof his especial favour, as he himself witnesses.If, then,

polygamy be marriage properly socalled, it is also lawful and honourable: accordingto the same Apostle.,

` marriage is honourable inall and the bed underfiled.' " (An Apology forMohammed and the Koran, pp.157-159)

John Milton has earlier written in the

same book (A Treatise On Christian Doctrine) asfollows:-

"In the definition which I have given(i.e. of marriage) I have not said, in compliancewith the common opinion, `of one man with onewoman,' lest I should by implication charge theholy patriarchs and pillars of our faith, Abraham,and the others who had more than one wifeat the same titnc, with habitual fornicahon and

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adultery, lest I should be forced to exclude fromthe sanctuary of God as spurious the holy off-spring which sprang from them, yea, the wholeof the sons of Israel, for whom the sanctuary it-self

was made. For it is said (Deut. 23:2): `Abastard shall not enter into the congregation ofJehovah, even to his tenth generation.' Either,therefore, polygamy is a true marriage or allchildren born in that state are spurious; whichwould include the whole race of Jacob, thetwelve holy tribes chosen by God. But as such anassertion would be absurd in the extreme, not tosay impious, and as it is the height of injustice, aswell as an example of most dangerous tendencyin religion, `to account as sin what is not such inreality,' it appears true that, so far from thequestion respecting the lawfulness of polygamybeing trivial, it is of the highest importancethat it should be decided." (pp.231-232)

POLYGAMY IN ISLAM

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First of all, it should be remembered thatthe Hindus, Babylonians, Persians, Athenians,Jews and pre-Islamic Arabs recognised no limitto the number of wives a man could marry.Islam limited and restricted it in number; andhedged it with severe restrictions.

The attitude of a husband towards hiswives must be such as to give no occasion toheart-break, jealousy, dissatisfaction, discontentand frustration to any of them. There should beno cruelty, injustice, bias or partiality on thepart of the husband. It is expected and seen thatcomplete peace, harmony and tranquillity prevailin the household where the husband faithfullyobserves the injunctions of Islam regarding theequal status of all the wives in matters ofmaintenance, and general treatment.

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If the husband cannot exercise this equalityhe is not allowed to marry more than one.Regarding this restriction of number and equaltreatment, the Qur'an, ordains:-

. . . , then marry such women as seemgood to you, two, three and four; but if youfear you will not be equitable, then only one,. . .

"

(Qur'an, 4:3)

To ensure that fairness and justice, thehusband must have sufficient economic meansto provide adequate food, clothing and othernecessities of life to each of them; each of thewives must be provided with a separate house ofher own, where only the husband has a right to

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enter without asking her permission first. Thehusband must spend equal time in the house ofeach wife. He must divide his nights among them,and must visit every wife in the morning. Thiswill give him a chance to look after the welfareof each every day, and will maintain goodrelationships with each of them.

The fact that the imposition of the aboveconditions has made polygamy very much re-stricted among the Muslims; and one seldomcomes across cases of polygamy in the Muslimsocieties.

POLYGAMY: A NATURAL LAW

Now, we should look at the arguments ofthe Christians against the system of polygamy.Is polygamy really against the natural law?

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The facts and findings answer this questionin negative.

"Man," says G.R.Scott, "is essentially po-lygamous and the development of civilizationextends this innate polygamy." (History ofprostitution, p.21; as quoted in Polygamy inIslam, published by Islami Mission, Lahore)

Dr. Mercier says: "Woman is by naturemonogamist; man has in him the element ofpolygamist." (Conduct and its Disorders Biologically Considered, pp.292-293; as quoted inPolygamy in Islam)

Professor Russel, an American scholar, saidin a conference, held at the University of Cali-fornia, convened to discuss the Family Rights:-

"Marriage to one wife and being tied downto only one wife for the whole span of life is un-natural and unreasonable." Then, in the course

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of a long discussion, he summarized his theoryby saying that, "Man aught to accept the law ofmore than one wife as an important factorin the struggle for survival." (Ittila'at),

Tehran,no.3104)

While on this topic, we should examinethe claim that the Creator "preserves the numberof males practically equal to the number offemales."

It is a claim which cannot be justified inany way. There are a number of countries,including Tanzania, where the population ofwomen exceeds considerably that of men. Ac-cording to statistics published some time ago,in Soviet Russia, the population of women wasabout twenty one million more than that ofthe men.

And even if we accept, just for the sakeof argument, that the Creator creates equal

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number of males and females, does it provethat there will be no need of polygamy? Well,let us look at this matter in a reasoned way. Thegirls become capable of re-production, and getthe natural sexual feelings earlier than the boys.Islam has fixed the age of nine years for a girl tobe considered as an adult, while the age limit forboys is fourteen or fifteen. It is because intemperate climate girls are able to conceive atthe age of nine or ten; while in the same climatean average boy becomes able to establish sexualintercourse at the age of about fourteen orfifteen.

Now, suppose a group of people settletogether in a place, and suppose that every yearfifty boys and fifty girls are born in thatcommunity. Also suppose that none of thechildren die in infancy. In twenty years, therewill be one thousand boys and one thousandgirls.

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Out of these one thousand girls, five hund-red and fifty girls (who were born from the firstto the eleventh year) will have reached the age ofpuberty, that is, will be from ten to twentyyears old.

And out of the one thousand boys onlythree hundred will have reached the age ofpuberty. These will be the ones born fromfirst year to the sixth year, who will be fromfifteen to twenty years old.

If that community practices monogamy,the three hundred boys can marry three hundredgirls. What will be the fate of the remainingtwo hundred and fifty girls? So, the supposedequality in number of boys and girls is wrongnot only according to the statistics, but intheory also.

Also, one more fact to be borne in mind,before claiming this equality of the numbers.

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All healthy women have to pass through aperiod, every month, when their condition dis-courages establishment of sexual intercourse.But the man does not lose his sexual urge at anytime. What is the remedy if a man is unable toresist his sexual urge at a time when his wifeis having her menstruation? Either polygamy,which has legal status, or going to the prostitutes,which is forbidden in every religion.

Apart from these natural causes whichrefute the claim of the Christian priests, thereare some situations created by man which givelie to that claim. Take for example War. InEurope, during the thirty-year War and in thelast two World Wars, so many men were killedthat there were not enough males to marry theyoung girls and young widows. In West Germanyalone, after the second World War, there were sixmillion women who could not find a husband.A group of them appealed to the governmentto promulgate a law allowing polygamy, so that

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they may get husbands. They pleaded their caseon the grounds that it would provide themeconomic and social security and satisfy theirnatural urge. The Church opposed this move,and the helpless six million women were left tofend for themselves by illicit sexual activities.

Bertrand Russell says:-

"And in all countries where there is anexcess of women, it is an obvious injustice thatthose women who by arithmetical necessity mustremain unmarried should be wholly debarredfrom sexual experience." (Marriage and Morals,p.47)

DOES POLYGAMY ENCOURAGESENSUALITY?

The above quotation has brought us to the

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next objection of the Christian priests, thatpolygamy encourages lust and sensuality. Wehave already shown by arithmetical calculationsand historical facts that the system of monogamyhas compelled and is compelling millions andmillions of unfortunate girls to live immoral life,and these writers still have the cheek to tell usthat polygamy (which is the only cure to thismalady) leads to sensuality!

The following paragraphs, taken from Poly-gamy in Islam, give us a fair picture of Westernmonogamy:-

"Islam allows its followers legal marriage inaddition to the first one and, having allowedfullest possible legitimate outlet to the seximpulse, it prescribes very severe and deterentpunishment for adultery, because adultery des-troys peace, harmony, tranquillity prevailingin homes, throws doubt on the fatherhoodof children and legitimacy of inheritance, and

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ultimately results in broken homes, ruinedfamilies and dissolutions of marriages.

"In Europe and America, it is just the otherway about, and they have solved the problem ofsexual outlet in a peculiar way. They haveallowed women full and free inter-mixing withstrangers of opposite sex in the name of so-calledemancipation of women, and this has resulted inover-increasing cases of fornication and adultery.Bertrand Russell says, `With the growth ofwomen's freedom there has come a much greateropportunity for conjugal infidelity than existedin former times. The opportunity gives rise to thethought; the thought gives rise to the desire andin the absence of religious scruples, the desiregives rise to the act.'( Marriage and Morals, p.72)

"The result is that the men and womenborn during the present century is the so-calledcivilized Europe and America do not believethat fornication and extra-martial relations as

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such are a sin. There is neither internal norexternal control in matters of sex. Conjugalfidelity is not expected now-a-days. The sexualrevolution is in full swing.

"Of course, polygamy is considered an in-fringement of the rights of women, but practi-cally these monogamists go on practising surreptitious, clandestine and underhand polygamy bydefiling secretly the wives, daughters and sistersof other people. Polygamy is considered an evilbut left-handed wives are kept without anyscruples. No eye-brows are lifted on sexualpromiscuity. Enticement is provided by semi-nude dresses, freedom of intermixing with stran-gers of opposite sex, posters showing nudewomen, sex symbols, sex-insinuating materialand obscenity in cinemas where physical con-tours move in synchronisation with seductiveand vulgar music." (pp.9-11)

Mrs. Annie Besant worte on this subject:-

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"There is pretended monogamy in the West,but there is real polygamy without responsibility.The mistress is cast off when the man is weary ofher and she sinks gradually to be the woman ofthe street: for the first lover has no responsibili-ty for her future: and she is hundred times worseoff than a sheltered wife and the mother in thepolygamous home. When we see thousands ofmiserable women, who crowd the streets ofWestern towns during the night, we must surelyfeel that it does not lie in Western mouths toreproach Islam for its polygamy. It is better fora woman, happier for a woman, more respect-able for a woman to live in Islamic polygamyunited to one man only with the legitimate childin her arms and surrounded with respect, than tobe seduced, cast out in the streets perhaps withan illegitimate child, outside the pale of law,un-sheltered and uncared for, to become a victimof any passerby, night after night, renderedincapable of motherhood, despised by all."

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George Bernard Shaw advised the people ofEurope to adopt the system of polygamy to saveEurope from inundation of adultery.

Another Western writer, J.E. McFarlance,writes in his The Case for Polygamy or TheCase Against the System of Monogamous Mar-riage:-

"Whether the question is considered socially,ethically or religiously; it can be demonstratedthat polygamy is not contrary to the higheststandards of civilization. The suggestion offersa practical remedy for the Western problemsto destitute families; the alternative is continuedand increased prostitution, concubinage anddistressing spinsterhood."

A Bishop from lbadan (Nigeria), Rev. Odo-tula, in a religious conference held in Toronto,shed another light on this subject. He said:"The West by prohibiting; the law of (polygamy)

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act with hypocrisy, as by frequent divorcesthey have in fact been practising this custom."

And that Bishop is not alone. Even as earlyas last century the Christian clergy had realizedthat Islamic polygamy is infinitely better thanthe Western monogamy. Rev. Canon Issac Taylor,LL. D. speaking on `Mohamedanism' at the Churchcongress at Wolverhampton, on 7th October,1887, said:-

"Owing to polygamy, Muslim countriesare free from professional out-casts, a greaterreproach to Christendom than polygamy is toIslam. The strictly regulated polygamy of Muslimlands is infinitely less degrading to women andless injurious to men than the promiscuouspolyandry which is the curse of Christian cities,and which is absolutely unknown in Islam."(The Times, London, Saturday, 8th Oct., 1887)

And recently, such a personality as

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Dr. Billy Graham said:-

"Christianity cannot but compromise on thequestion of polygamy. If present day Christianitycannot do so, it is to its own detriment. Islam haspermitted polygamy as a solution to social ills,and has allowed a certain degree of latitude tohuman nature but only within the strictlydefined framework of law. Christian countriesmake a great show of monogamy, but actuallythey practice polygamy. No one is unaware ofthe part mistresses play in Western society. Inthis respect Islam is a fundamentally honestreligion, and permits a Muslim to marry asecond wife if he must be strictly forbidden allclandestine amatory associations in order tosafeguard the moral policy of the community."(quoted in The Position of Woman in Islam,published by the Islamic Foundation, Karachi)

DOES POLYGAMY INJURE THEFEELINGS OF WOMEN?

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The third objection is that polygamy hassocial disadvantages, and injures the delicatefeelings of women. We have already seen thatfar from creating social disadvantages, polygamycures the social disadvantages, and that it isthe pretended monogamy which is the root-cause of the vast array of the social abuses in theWestern countries. Now, we may briefly explainthe subject of the supposed injury to thedelicate feelings of the women. One wonders ifthe prevalent permissiveness of the Christiancountries does not injure the delicate feelings ofthe wives who see their husbands flirting withall types of `emancipated' women.

So far as Islamic societies are concerned.the instances are not uncommon, where a wife

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herself persuades the husband to marry a secondwife. Often, she herself chooses the bride-to-be.The writings of Westerners do not carry anyweight on this subject, because they do not livein a Muslim society, and whatever they write isbased on mere presumption and imagination.If there is to be any discussion on this subject,it must be based on the data gathered fromIslamic societies.

According to the Ittila'at (daily), Tehran,(no.13114), "A man with his three wives ap-proached the Matrimonial Tribunal to seektheir permission to marry a fourth wife. Allthree existing wives recommended and approvedthe intended marriage. The reporter of Ittila'atapproached the mother of the wife-to-be, toinvestigate the background of this incident.He learnt that in that village there were 2000women compared to 400 males (half of themstill below fourteen years of age). The would-be mother-in-law preferred to give her daughter

43

to a man already having three wives to thealternative of keeping her unmarried for therest of her life."

The same paper (no.13075) published thefollowing news:-

"A young wife who did not bear childrenand, as a result, was very much distressed,approached the Matrimonial Tribunal and askedthem to persuade her husband to take a secondwife. `Do not think that I do not love myhusband, or that there is no accord betweenus. On the contrary, because of my deep loveto him, I do not want him to remain withoutchild, due to no fault of his own. I have tried topersuade him to marry another wife, but he doesnot agree. Therefore, I request this Tribunal tointervene. I solemnly pledge to live in harmonyand with co-operation with the second wife.' "

The same newspaper (no.13091) reported

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another woman saying:-

"Some years ago, my husband married meso that the two sons of his late brother do notremain without a guardian. Later we had a childof our own, but he died after one month only.My husband is younger than me; and I resolvedto find for him a younger wife. Now I havesucceeded in getting him married to anothergirl."

These are a few examples to show thatpolygamy does not injure the feeling of thewives. Of course, there are instances of discordand disputes in a polygamous household. Butthey are neither more nor less than the discordsand disputes in a monogamous household. Willthe Western writers suggest to abolish the institu-tion of `Marriage' because it creates domestictroubles, disputes and discords, which some-times result in divorce?

POLYGAMY VS. FAMILYPLANNING

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This objection is based on short-sightedness.In Islam, the husband is responsible to maintainhis wife or wives and all his children. It is anobligation which must be fulfilled in all circum-stances. If a husband follows the tenets of Islam,he is bound to think twice before entering a newmarriage whether he would be able to meet hisfinancial and other obligations concerning thenew wife and her off-spring. If his financialcondition is not strong, he has to refrain fromthe new marriage. Therefore, the question of`economic problems' does not arise at all.

Thus, in the words of John Davenport:-

"Mohammed, therefore, did but legalize apractice not only honoured but even blessed

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by God himself, under the old dispensation,and declared to be lawful and honourableunder the new one; and, consequently, hemust be exonerated from the charge of havingsanctioned polygamy, and thereby encouragedlicentiousness." (An Apology for Mohammedand the Koran p.159)

Before ending this booklet, I would like toquote here a letter written by an AfricanMr. S.M. Werottere of Karatina (Kenya) whichwas published in the Sunday Post (Nairobi)of 19th August, 1973. He writes:-

"POLYGAMY OR PROSTITUTION?"

"IN A SURVEY to find out the cause of theincrease of prostitution and continued marriagebreakages in Nyeri District, I have discoveredvarious reasons. But one that caught my atten-tion is that women out-numbered men.

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"It will be interesting to note that exceptin very few families, girls are more than boysin most cases; 5-3, 4-3, 2-l, 6-2, 4-1 and so on.These figures indicate that women are, roughly,two thirds of the country's population.

"Normally, it is a boy that approachesa girl when he considers it fit to marry her;a girl simply waits to be consulted by anyonewho may be interested in her.

"It is a common belief, especially in Chris-tian circles, that the system of `one man, onewife' should be maintained. That would meanthat `one half' of girls would never be married.The Church has remained mute as to wherethe half of the girl population should go.

"The Church teaches that the Bible directsa man should have, one wife. Yet we know ofsome holy men in the Bible that were polygamous. There seems to exist some contradic-

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tions, anyway.

"Indeed, people appreciate present Govern-ment efforts to control human population byintroducing Family Planning services; they commend some religious institutions, for exampleMuhammedans, who allow polygamy to theirfollowers.

"Through experience, we now know thatalthough the system of `one man, one wife' - isaimed at having peaceful families, a good manyfamilies in this category have not justified thesituation. Some have even divorced or areseparated.

"We cannot deny that `one half of the girls'(or even more) are without husbands. We havenot been able to direct them on how to face life- especially as we arc already aware that lifeis too brutal to them. Particularly when themajority of young girls lack skills to enable

them earn a living.

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"The Church priests, the peasants, theeconomists, the administrators and others quietlyadmit that the unmarried women should struggleto survive even if it is by prostitution, perhaps(?). `It is time,' one man told me, `that theChristian churches examined the present state ofaffairs and relax the `one man, one wife' ruleto help save the situation now facing the world.'

"And one Christian woman told me: `Iwon't mind being a second wife of a man I love.Life becomes hopeless when a woman doesn'thave a man's protection. It is better thanremaining unmarried.'

"Said a known prostitute: `When I got mybaby boy and took five years without gettingmarried, day to day problems pushed me towardsprostitution. I have no choice; I can be secondor third wife if consulted. Life has been very

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insecure.'

"One Christian minister told me that al-though he agreed that polygamy would reduceprostitution to a certain degree, he does notbelieve that it would serve the situation fully.He maintains further that with family planning,the problem would be saved in future. Hehad no answer as to what would be done tothe problem at present.

"In general, the majority of the peopleI have talked to - married or not - wantthe Church to reconsider its stand so thatpeople can be free to choose between polygamyand monogamy, depending on one's wealth."(Sunday Post, Nairobi)

And with this quotation, I close this book-let, hoping that the readers will fully appreciate

THE END

the benefits of the Islamic permissidn of poly-gamy.