In 1531, the Anabaptists of Münster openly preached that whoever wants to be a true Christian must have several wives. And Mormons, as the whole world knows, regard polygamy as a divine institution. One of the ways polygamy is still legally practiced in Iran today is the practice of mut`a,[25] a temporary contractual relationship based on the mutual consent of a man and a woman. Throughout the duration of the contract, the woman must remain faithful exclusively to the man and, in return, he must provide for her financial needs. Although this practice is technically legal, it is highly controversial. [26] The verse most often mentioned about polygamy is verse 3 of Sura 4 An-Nisa (Women). A translation of Yusuf Ali is shown below: Hip-hop became increasingly popular around the world, and Islam had a significant influence on rap music in the United States, where hip-hop first emerged. Two Muslim hip-hop artists who adopt the concept of polygamy in their music are Miss Undastand and Sons of Hagar. “Miss Undastood, a veiled young African-American poet, raps on her CD Dunya or Deen (Life or Faith) about war, love, the challenges of being a young Muslim woman in America, and the power of faith.” [45] Sons of Hagar is another hip-hop group that attempts to portray Islam positively in its lyrics and support Islamic practices in its actions.
Her song “Sisterssss” supports polygamous practices. The band members argue that although polygamy is illegal in America, rapping about it is far less offensive than rapping about prostitutes by other artists. [46] Some religions consider any fulfillment of natural desires to be low or worldly and have taken the position that the most spiritual way to live life is to be single. Islam, on the other hand, does not take this extreme approach and views marriage as a necessary means of protecting a person from evil by providing an outlet for those natural desires that exist to ensure the procreation and continuity of human life. Without marriage, a person would be in constant danger of committing a sin to satisfy these desires. However, acknowledging the existence of such desires does not mean that Islam has opened the door to the pleasurable pursuit of sensuality as the sole goal. The answer to the first question is that it takes a large dose of naivety to suggest that men should remain patient all the time and never resort to another woman. It is an indisputable fact that polygamy has always existed in the history of human civilization. This is especially evident in the long line of prophets in the Bible who were men of God and yet had multiple wives. In allowing polygamy, Islam does not intend to side with men and encourage them to form harems or engage in sexual desires and debauchery, or to neglect and suppress women`s rights.
On the contrary, the aim of Islam is to defend a number of women`s natural rights – the right to marry, to found a family, and to have and raise legitimate children. Of course, men`s rights have also been taken into account. The admission of polygamy under prescribed conditions is a social necessity and is in the ultimate interest of women and men, and in order to clarify this question, the following two premises are given. Islam tolerates polygamy; However, it has imposed various conditions on it which are very difficult to comply with in practice. These are as follows: “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam will never be accepted by it, and in the hereafter, he will be one of the losers.” [Eel `Imran 3:85] Two prominent Muslim feminist academics who are trying to increase women`s rights by reinterpreting religious texts are Amina Wadud and Asma Barlas. Both women embrace Islam as a religion that preaches gender equality. They see social practices, not Islam, as the main problem. Wadud points out the three reasons why the Qur`an considers forms of polygamy acceptable: if the husband is not sexually satisfied, he can take another wife instead of turning to prostitutes or an affair, if the first wife is unable to reproduce, or if another wife needs to be treated. and/or if the husband is financially stable enough to care for another woman in the Muslim community. [31] According to Wadud, the form of polygamy supported by the Qur`an focuses on “justice: just treatment, equitable administration of funds, justice for orphans, and justice for wives.” [32] Barlas, who published his theological research a few years later, makes a very similar point.
Both feminist scholars point to the origin of the Islamic theory of polygamy in Ouch 4:3. This verse of the Qur`an was not intended to use polygamy as a means of oppressing women, but to ensure that they were taken care of. Some, like Ali, argue that the general condition of women living in Jahiliyya improved with the advent of Islam. These scholars cite a general institution of order and protection provided by Qur`anic verses and argue that “the position of women has been greatly improved by Muhammad`s mission.” [12] The ruthless practices of infanticide – especially those of female newborns – capricious divorces and the unlimited license of polygamy were all social phenomena eradicated by the revelation of Qur`anic verses concerning the issue of polygamy. Mulavi Shiragh Ali summarizes this view and explains: “The Qur`an has gradually improved and increased the degraded condition of women [in Jahiliyya], mainly reducing the unlimited number of women to four. and second, to declare that it is impossible to treat more than one woman equally, even if men “arrived”, thus abolishing polygamy. [12] Conversely, from Ahmed`s point of view, they would argue that the arrival of Quranic law was accompanied by the loss of sexual autonomy of women. From this perspective, jahiliyya marriage practices, including pre-Islamic polygamy, were correlated with women being “active participants, even leaders, in various community activities.
Their autonomy and participation were reduced with the establishment of Islam, its institution of patrilineal and patriarchal marriage as the only legitimacy and the resulting social transformation. [14] A detailed discussion of the intersection of feminism and polygamy can be found in the following sections of this article; See Muslim feminism and polygamy. “. One of the purposes of marriage is Ihsan, that is, a person can thus be protected against various diseases, ailments and illicit acts. However, it is possible for a person to face circumstances where he is unable to maintain his justice and purity while maintaining relationships with a single woman who is going through periods of menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, silence and other forms of ailments, etc. Even if he can protect himself from practical indecency by extraordinary effort, at least one aspect of impurity continues to dominate his thoughts, or perhaps there is a danger that he will be afflicted by physical suffering. Therefore, the right remedy for such a person is nothing more than polygamy. In other words, for such a person, the same purpose that was the motivating factor for one marriage will become, in this case, the catalyst for another marriage. (Life and Character of the Seal of the Prophets (saw) – Volume II, p. 253) 2.
There is no passage in the New Testament that explicitly forbids polygamy, except in the case of bishops and deacons. This was the understanding of the early Church Fathers and for several centuries in the Christian period. Westermarck, the recognized authority in the history of human marriage, states: “Luther speaks of polygamy repeatedly with considerable tolerance. This had not been forbidden by God: even Abraham, who was a “perfect Christian,” had two wives. It is true that God permitted such marriages with certain Old Testament men only under certain circumstances, and if a Christian would follow their example, he had to demonstrate that the circumstances in his case were similar; But polygamy was undoubtedly preferable to divorce. In 1650, shortly after the Peace of Westphalia, when the population had declined sharply due to the Thirty Years` War, the Franconian district council of Nuremberg decided that henceforth any man could marry two women. Some Christian sects have even advocated polygamy with great fervor. To broaden the context in which polygamy has Islamic relevance, it is appropriate to examine current debates on polygamy in Islam and more generally on polygamy and the implications that have resulted from its contextual transition from Jahiliyya to the Islamic era.