To most Muslim women, it is, to say the least, disturbing when polygamy is endorsed as a practice sanctioned by Islam. The practice of polygamy preceded Islam, and Quranic injunctions sought to first limit and eventually dispense entirely with the regressive custom. It is unfortunate however that the liberal practitioners of the Islamic faith speak with muffled voices, while the more draconian and orthodox interpreters reign supreme. Although this is true for most facets of Islamic belief, it is doubly so for any standard pertaining to women.

In this regard, it is important to clarify the real Islamic position with respect to the controversial and backward practice of polygamy. To do this, one must necessarily consult the source of Islamic legal and moral principle, the Quran. The Quran clearly does not condone polygamy. Nor does it encourage it in any way. At best, the Quran resignedly tolerates polygamy under very special and limited circumstances. Even so, it cautions against it and prohibits it if it is at all feared that the man in question may not deal in an equitable manner among the wives. Finally, the Quran counsels that even if the man feels he can be fair, it is better and advisable for him to maintain only one wife. It is therefore abundantly clear that the Quran frowned upon polygamy even at a time when having more than one wife was considered normal and ordinary behavior. Extrapolating to today’s norms one can logically conclude that polygamy is against the egalitarian and liberating spirit of Islam, and as such should be outlawed in Muslim countries, as it is in the West.

The traditionalist will most likely argue against this progressive approach on three counts. First, that if Islam intended to outlaw polygamy, a clear prohibition would have been written into the Quran. This is the classic letter over spirit argument often posed by orthodox Muslims. However, the mere fact that the Quran acknowledges polygamy as an undesirable but permissible practice years ago does not mean that it would look upon it with as much generosity under today’s norms of acceptable behavior.

An appropriate analogy to use here would be that of the practice of slavery. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity before it, did not abolish slavery. The Quran tolerates slavery as an undesirable but sufferable practice, much like polygamy. Why were such abominable practices not banned unconditionally by religion? The logical answer would be because such was the norm years ago, but today such behavior is considered outrageous and grossly unfair. In fact, we all know that until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in the United States, slavery and slave trade, shameful as it was, thrived in the “civilized West”. The Quran, in several instances, encourages the freeing of slaves. Yet it does not abolish slavery outright. Nevertheless, there is no disagreement amongst Muslims that given the egalitarian spirit of Islam, slavery is an unacceptable and illegitimate practice in the modern day, and thus should be outlawed. Why not adopt the same approach with respect to polygamy? Certainly abolishing polygamy too would be commensurate with the general principles of Islam and serve to better protect the rights of women under the law, which Islam enthusiastically encourages.

The second pro-polygamy argument one hears from certain quarters attempts to justify polygamy on account of man’s lustful and carnal nature, thereby suggesting that a man needs more than one woman to satisfy him. I am afraid this argument is as perverted as it sounds, and one finds absolutely no basis in the Quran to support such a demented view of the religion.

The Quran was revealed over a period of twenty-three years. Different verses were revealed at different times to deal with varying circumstances. Thus when one reads the Quran it is exceptionally important to be attentive to the time and circumstances under which any particular verse was revealed. Otherwise, it could be taken completely out of context and thus the meaning obfuscated.

In this regard, the subject of polygamy is discussed in Sura Nisa (meaning Women) and the verses were revealed in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Uhud, when a burgeoning Muslim population suffered terrible defeat. To put things in perspective, the total Muslim population at the time numbered seven hundred, and seventy Muslim men died in the Battle of Uhud (which meant a tenth of the total population and a far greater percentage of the men). Further, greater loss of men was anticipated in the battles to follow. Hence, it was under these circumstances that the Quran first advises the remaining male members of society to be fair to the widows and orphan girls under their care.

In this backdrop, the Quran states:

“And if you fear that you cannot act equitably towards orphans,
then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four,
but if you fear that you will not do justice (between them),
then (marry) only one or what your right hands possess;
this is more proper, that you may not deviate from the right course.” 1
(Sura IV (Nisa), Verse 3, translation by Maulvi Muhammad Ali).

A simple and plain reading of the controlling verse above clearly negates any misconception that Islam would tolerate polygamy on grounds of lust or carnal desire. It is tolerated only in the aftermath of an egregious battle, which annihilated a large number of the Muslim male population, leaving behind large numbers of widows and orphans with no one to care for them. And even in those circumstances, it is not prescribed but cautioned against.

Finally, the proponents of polygamy ask for exemplary evidence beyond the text of the Quran and grounded in precedents set by the Prophet and his companions. Luckily, such evidence exists and is producible. For example, the Prophet used Sura IV, Verse 3 (cited above) to deny Hazrat Ali permission to take another wife on the basis that he “shall not be able to deal justly” 2 with two women. Thus, if a figure as illustrious in Islamic history as Hazrat Ali can be denied permission by the Prophet on account of the fact that he will not be able to do justice to more than one wife, it is unfathomable that ordinary men should consider themselves more equitable than Hazrat Ali and undertake a test the Prophet thought Hazrat Ali would not be able to pass.

Further and most importantly, in the seventh year of the Hijra, long after the Battle of Uhud had passed and thus the ratio of men to women in Muslim society stabilized, Verse 52 of Sura 33 (Sura Ahzab, or the Allies) was revealed. The verse stated:

“It is not allowed to you to take women afterwards,
nor that you should change them for other wives,
though their beauty be pleasing to you,
except what your right hand possesses,
and Allah is watchful over all things.”

After the revelation of the verse above, even the Prophet refrained from marrying again. This therefore is clear textual guidance that Islam is against polygamy and would welcome its abolition. Moreover, it is supported by the Prophet’s example from the point of this revelation onwards.

Unfortunately, however, Tunisia is the only Muslim country that has followed Quranic direction and the Prophet’s example on this issue and banned polygamy on Islamic grounds. In Turkey too polygamy is banned, but based on secular and not religious law, as in Western countries. In many other predominantly Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lebanon and pre-1979 Iran, attempts have been made, in varying degrees, to curtail the practice under the law, without abolishing it entirely. However, hard-liners in all these countries have actively opposed such progressive measures, and the statutes eventually enacted into law were considerably diluted from their preliminary drafts. Lastly, in countries such as Saudi Arabia, post-revolutionary Iran and the other Gulf states, no legally binding effort has been made to control polygamy, and the practice carries on unfettered.


Footnotes:
1. For clarification purposes, “what your right hands possess” was common Arabic diction at the time in referring to women to whom a man was already married.
2. Sharia Law And Society—Tradition And Change in South Asia, by Alamgir Muhammad Serajuddin. Oxford University Press: 2001, p.160.