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Ihtesham Ullah Khan 13020387 Miss Asma Sabir SS 100 2 March 2010 Polygamy in Islam Islam has restricted polygamy and made it more organized and civilized. It existed before the advent of Islam among several civilizations and religions. Abraham the friend of God had more than one wife, David had one hundred wives, and Solomon is even said to have had 700 wives. Polygamy means a system of marriage whereby one person has more than one spouse. It can be of two types. One is polygyny in which a man can marry more than one woman, and the other is polyandry, where a woman marries more than one man. In Islam, limited polygyny is permitted, that a man can only marry four wives at a time, whereas polyandry is completely prohibited. Islam regulated this practice, limited it, and made it more humane (Islamic law). In Islam, polygyny is allowed for men, with the specific limitation that they can only have up to four wives at any one time..Quran says that "If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four A man that practices polygamy is required to deal justly with his wives in all matters that are within his limit, mainly in matters pertaining to maintenance. He has to divide the time he spends between his wives equally, especially his nights (In Islam) (Monogamy).

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In Islam a man is restricted to have four wives at a time but this restriction is not for our Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H). He practiced polygamy by having more than four wives. He didn't practice it for the sake of sexual pleasure at all. He chose to marry the weak from his people to encourage the Muslim men to do the same; to create a balance in the Muslim society. Most of his wives were either widows (older than him in age too) or divorced women (also most of them were either older or same age) who had their children with them. Providing a fatherly figure for those children is the only specific circumstance in support of polygamy mentioned in the Quran (When). As limited polygamy is allowed in Islam, thus it can be a better solution in some cases. It is estimated that the ratio of women is greater as compared to men because of stronger immune system of female children. In Russia there are nine million more women than male population, similarly in USA there are 7.5 million more women. If a man got married to a single woman then still there would be more female who would not be able to get a husband. Therefore limited polygamy will solve the problem and all women will be married in this way. Many times the general welfare of both husband and wife depends upon the husband marrying another wife. Also in some cases a person whose wife becomes chronically ill can marry another woman, thus legally satisfying his instinctive needs instead of illegal relations with other women. Thus it helps to solve a major social problem to prevent major sins such as illegal sex and prostitution (Monogamy). In Islam a woman is not allowed to have more than one husband at a time. As husband is the head of family, therefore it is impossible for a woman to handle all of them. Moreover all husbands have equal sexual access to their wife therefore it will be hard to know about their children and the child will be also unaware of his father.

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Polygamy is neither mandatory, nor encouraged, but merely permitted. It is mubah. The Quran is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the phrase marry only one. The Quran emphasizes the limitations against polygamy in very strong words but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with wives) then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice." Quran instructs men to have only one wife. Allah Almighty didn't want polygamy to really take place. That's why He later told men "You are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire. Although it is permitted in Islam, its actual practice is quite rare in many Muslim societies. It is estimated that only two percent Muslims have more than one wife. Unless we are absolutely sure that God's law will not be abused, we had better resist our lust and stay away from polygamy. Quran instructs men to have only one wife. Allah Almighty didn't want polygamy to really take place. That's why He later told men "You are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire. Although it is permitted in islam , its actual practice is quite rare in many Muslim societies. It is estimated that only two percent Muslims have more than one wife. Unless we are absolutely sure that God's law will not be abused, we had better resist our lust and stay away from polygamy. Practice of polygamy by poor people of Muslim countries is harmful, because they are unable to provide fairness to their children and also to their wives. As a result such children do not take part in economic well being and their life becomes miserable. Islam does not allow such people to practice polygamy (When). Before the advent of Islam there was no upper limit for polygamy but Islam deals with this issue more clearly and put an upper limit of four. Such restrain shows the discouragement of

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such a practice. . In the early age of Islam, those who had more than four wives at the time of accepting Islam as their religion were supposed to divorce the extra wives. It is also evident that the general rule in Islam is monogamy and not polygamy. The reason for not prohibiting polygamy categorically is perhaps due to the fact that sometime there are certain problems in the society which can be solved because of limited polygamy. Unless there are social or personal dilemmas, or problems with the wife, polygamy should not be practiced. Permission to practice limited polygamy is to solve different social and domestic problems and cultural variations, which (islamfortoday.com) (Introduction)

Works Cited

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"Polygamy in Islamic Law. Web. 28 Feb. 2010. <http://www.alislamforall.org/litre/Englitre/polygainis.htm>. Polygamy in Islam. Polygamy in Islam - Polygamy 411. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. <http://polygamy411.com/>. "Polygamy in Islam, Monogamy, Bigamy, Multiple Wifes, Polygamous, Mistress, Family Planning." Website Design Solutions, Internet Marketing Solutions and in between, everything related to Internet Search. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. <http://www.ezsoftech.com/omm/polygamy.asp>. "When is Polygamy allowed in Islam? Polygamy might not be allowed for just any manat anytime." Web. 01 Mar. 2010. <http://www.answering-christianity.com/polygamy.htm>. "Polygamy in Islamic Law." Islam For Today. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. <http://www.islamfortoday.com/polygamy5.htm>. "An Introduction to Polygamy in Islam -." The Religion of Islam. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. <http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/325/>.