1. The wisdom of polygamy legislation in Islam & its
situation in Afghanistan by Nasir Ahmad Yousefi (G1419223)
2. 1. Introduction There is no doubt that only Allah is the
creator and He knows the needs of His creation. However, all
rulings and orders are to achieve his servants to prosperity. This
paper is not put together in defence of polygamy for Allah has
already confirmed its validity as clearly stated in the Noble
Quran: Marry of the women that please you, two, three or four, but
if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly with them,
then only one. Moreover, the Prophet (PBUH) demonstrated in detail
how polygamy should be put into practice by his divinely guided
lifestyle. Nowadays, polygamy is usually viewed as a right that man
has but should not take, or as a law that is outmoded and in need
of being abolished. Polygamy in Islam is a favourite topic for the
critics of Islam and its message. The so-called secular and western
global domination has maligned the subject to the extent that is
impact is felt worldwide. Some so called modern Muslim scholars
have succumbed to the propaganda.
3. 1.2 DEFINATION OF POLYGAMY 1.2.1 polygyny a man marries more
than one woman. limited polygyny is permitted 1.2.2 polyandry a
woman marries more than one man. completely prohibited
4. 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF POLYGAMY. Islam did not invent
the system of polygamy. It existed long before Islam came into the
scene of world events. Many holy personalities of the Bible had
many wives or concubines at the same time. Abraham had Sarah and
Hajar. Abraham was first blessed with a son through Hajar whom he
named Ishmael, and then he was blessed with another son through
Sarah whom he named Isaac. Look at the example of Jacob; he had
four wives and concubines: Leah and Rachel (both were Jacobs
cousins), and he also had Bilhah and Zilpah (both were slave-girls
gifted to Jacob by his wives). It is from these four ladies that
Jacob had twelve sons who became ancestors of the Twelve Tribes of
Israel. David, known in Arabic as Prophet Dawd, had at least eight
wives whose names are known and he had many others whose names have
not been recorded.
5. Con In eastern parts, multiple marriages have been a common
custom. In Iran during the Sasanis dynasty, the custom of multiple
marriages was a common thing. Besides having married women, men had
some unmarried wives with them. There were mistresses and captive
women too, and they were called servant ladies. According to
Ferdawsis Book (Shahnama), Baharam Gur had 930 wives. Among the
Sparts, men could get married for the second time only in a
particular situation. However, women could get married more than
men according to their wish or tendency.
6. 2.1 Polygamy in age of ignorance (Jahiliyyah): Prior to the
emergence of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula was characterized by a
wide range of marriage practicesboth polygynous and polyandrous
alike, as well as monogamous. about the time of the birth of
Muhammad (circa 570)--the woman remaining with her tribe, where the
man could visit or reside with her, and the children belonging to
the mother's tribe--as well as polyandrous and polygamous
marriages. Before the revelation of the Holy Quran, or almost 1450
years ago, Polygamy was a custom and unlimited.
7. 3. POLYGAMY AND ISLAM (3) If you fear that you cannot treat
orphans with fairness, then you may marry such women (widowed) as
seem good to you: two, three or four of them. But if you fear that
you cannot do justice, marry one only. Islam did not prohibit
polygamy tradition before it was popular among Arabs and non-Arabs,
but it was limited to four, Islam versus unlimited polygamy among
Arab men and was enforced to prevent the violation of women's
rights. Under Islamic marital jurisprudence, Muslim men are allowed
to practice polygamy, that is, they can have more than one wife at
the same time, up to a total of four. One of the commandments given
in the Quran as a matter of social organization concerns polygamy
that is permission for a man to marry up to four women:
8. 3.1 Regarding to this Sentence, The religion of Islam did
not eliminate the custom of Polygamy, but rather reformed it. The
reform was as follow: ControlthePolygamy Polygamy was unlimited
before Islam,, but Islam identified the maximum limit for them and
according to such limits a man cannot have more than four wives.
Justice Discrimination among wives and their children is never
allowed. Justice was not considered a condition before Islam as the
Judaism used to consider economy the basic condition for Polygamy.
RemovalofDiscrimination The third reform that Islam made was the
removal of discrimination among women and children.
9. 3.2 The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) marriages. singleFrom birth
to age 25 married to one wife, Khadija.- From age 25 to age 50
married ten wives. From age 50 to age 63 To Providing Protection 1.
Lady Sawdah bint Zamah 2. Lady Zaynab bint Khuzaymah 3. Lady Umm
Salamah. To Set the Slaves Free. 4. Lady Juwayriyyah bint al-Hrith
To Forge Friendly Relations for Sake of Islam 5. Lady isha bint Abi
Bakr. 6. Lady Hafsah bint Umar ibn al-Khattb 7. Lady Umm Habibah,
daughter of Abu Sufyan. The Desire 9. Lady Maymunah bint al-Hrith
al-Hilaliyyah To Break a Taboo 10. Lady Zaynab bint Jahsh.
10. 3.3 Opinions of classical Islamic scholars on polygamy.
Disagree polygamy provision was for a specific period and a
solution for temporary problem. that the rule of polygamy has
abolished and its implementation during this period will be
considered violation of women's rights. to the conclusion that
Islam is against the polygamy due to the inability of man to
justice between wives. Agree 1-establishment of the rule of
polygamy.2- menopausal women The condition exist for polygamy in
Islam is that the Muslim man should have the insurance that he
would be able to apply justice in his relation to his wives
"Polygamy is an age-old institution, but it was an unorganized
chaos before Islam. It was liable to fancy and enjoyment, but Islam
made it a means of excellent life.
11. 4. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND POLYGAMY In general,
polygamy is legal in about 25% of countries, some countries only
legally allow polygyny in their Muslim population. A majority of
the world's countries and nearly all of the world's developed
nations do not permit polygamy, and there have been calls for the
abolition of polygamy in many developing countries. Polygamy has
been described as a form of human rights abuse. Many international
human rights organizations, as well as women's rights groups in
many countries, have called for its abolition. In 2000, the United
Nations Human Rights Committee considered polygamy (probably
limited to polygyny) a violation of the internationally binding
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on the
grounds that it violates the dignity of women, and recommended it
be made illegal in all states. Polygamous marriages are recognized
civilly in nearly fifty countries, either dominated by Muslims or
in the African continent.
12. 4.1 A Map Regarding Polygamy Around the World
13. 5. POLYGAMY IN AFGANISTAN BETWEEN LAW AND ACT Polygamy in
1355 civil law of Afghanistan: In article 86 of this law it is
mentioned that: Polygamy can be taken place after the following
conditions are fulfilled: 1. When there is no fear of injustice
between the wives. 2. The person has financial sufficiency to
sustain the wives that is when he can provide food, clothes,
suitable houses and medical care. 3. When there is legal expediency
that is when the first wife is childless or when she suffers from
diseases which are hard to be treated . Afghanistan as an Islamic
country with almost 99% Muslim population, is expected to be a good
place to observe Islamic rules, especially in women and children
rights. Unfortunately, in the field of legislation and actions of
people in Islamic law, has been less attention to respect to the
public and private law, therefore for the various reasons, the
Islamic laws are not implemented nicely and even was abused.
14. 5.1 Factors of polygamy practicing in Afghanistan 5.1.1
Factors for polygamy in relation to Men Number Factors Percentag e
1 Tribal competitions 26.23 2 Insecurity 9.13 3 Not having a child
11.1 4 Not having a son 6.00 5 Sickness of wife 13.25 6 Wealth 7.32
7 Power and status 6.82 8 Traveling 1.11 9 Custom and tradition
14.12 10 Differences and inexistence of agreement between husband
and wife 4.97 5.1.2 Factors related to the women consent in
marrying a married men Tribal& regional competitions Need for
safety Childlessness Sonlessness
15. 5.2 Factors related to the women consent in marrying a
married men. Maternal disease Strong economy Power & position
travels Custom & tradition Differences between husband &
wife
16. 6. polygamy in other Islamic counties Turkey was the first
country to legally ban polygamy in 1926. This decision was not
based on religious reasons, but rather was an entirely secular ban.
Tunisia was the next country to ban polygamy through legislation
passed in 1956 and restated in 1964. Some countries, including
India, Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan,
and Kuwait, allow women to include a clause prohibiting polygamy in
marriage contracts. Other countries, such as Iran and Pakistan,
require that a man get permission to take a second wife from his
first wife, and then show the court proof of his first wife's
consent.
17. 6.1 Malaysia Malaysia states that a man must get permission
from both his wife and from the government religious authority in
order to take a second.
18. 7. Conclusion Based on the discussion above, a few
conclusions can be made namely: 1. Polygamy bears witness of the
perfection of the Islamic Law because it is able to prevent human
beings from adultery (zina) and the practice of keeping mistresses
and girl friends which are obviously cruel to one self and to
women. 2. polygamy is allowed to be enjoyed and taken advantage of
with full responsibilities. 3. The measurement of responsibilities
has been outlined so clearly through the practice of fairness.
Being fair here refers to taking turns, provision of nafkah
physically and sexually, food, clothing, security assurance and
accommodation. Thus, it is forbidden for men who cannot fulfil the
conditions to become polygamous. 2. Polygamy is not pioneered by
Islam as certain Muslim and non-Muslim societies have claimed. It
has been practiced for generations by the Chinese, Greek, Christian
and Jews communities. 3. The deformation of polygamy is not at the
concept level, but at the practice level by men who have deviated
from the Shariah guidelines. This is proven from statistics whereby
80% of those who complained of having marital problems are the
women. This indirectly gives the understanding that marriage crisis
are caused by the husbands negligence . 4. The stringent rules
provisioned in Islamic Family Laws are not aimed to deter polygamy.
They are created to uphold peace in a marriage and to protect the
wives from the husbands oppression and violation.