ISLAM AND POLITICS

Does Islam Allow Polygami?

In the light of modern enthusiasm to review and analyse the Quran, with its principles of social justice and human equality, scholarly feminists examine the Quranic verses regarding polygamy. The Quran says:

If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan, marry women of your choice, two or three, or four. But if you feel that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess. That will be more suitable to prevent you from doing injustice.(QS, 4:3)

Concerning the interpretation of the verse above, Haifa Jawad, quoting Abduh?s interpretations, believes that although taking more than one wife is permitted in Islam, this permission is conditioned by the fact that the husband should deal with them justly. If he cannot do this, he is to be satisfied with one wife only. Abduh says: ?The Muhammadan Law allows man to take up to four wives at a time if he thinks he is capable of treating them justly. But if he feels he is unable to fulfill this condition then he is forbidden to have more than one wife?. Since this condition (justice) is very difficult if not impossible to obtain, the ban on polygamy becomes imperative to prevent any injustice towards the wife. Furthermore, Jawad argues that since polygamy was initially introduced to meet social, political, economic and military conditions within the Muslim community, the change in those circumstances means that the practise of polygamy is no longer a necessity or a requirement.

Engineer, a male commentator who seems to stand in the feminist camp, argues that the verse above expressly and unambiguously permits marriage with more than one woman. However, he says, it cannot be read in isolation. It has to be read in conjunction with the preceding verses, namely Sura 4, verses 1 and 2. The first verse of this Sura talks of the creation of men and women from the same source and thus emphasizes the equality of the sexes QS 4:1). The second verse exhorts Muslims to give orphans their due inheritance and not to cheat them with a poor exchange (QS 4:2). The third verse relating to polygamy begins with the words ?and if you fear that you cannot do justice to orphans?. Thus, it can be seen that the emphasis is not on marrying more than one woman but on doing justice to the orphans. The verse is not a general license but refers to a clear context in which justice to orphan is more central than marrying more than one wife at a time.

Wadud also agrees with Engineer and Jawad?s opinion; she argues that the Quranic verse above is concerned with justice: dealing justly, managing funds justly, justice to the orphans, and justice to the wives. Justice is the focus of most modern commentaries concerned with polygamy. In light of the verse ?you are never able to be just and fair as between women? (QS 4:129) many commentators assert that monogamy is the preferred marital arrangement of the Quran. For Wadud, it is impossible to attain the Quranic ideal with regard to building love and mercy between the wives, when the husband is split between more than one family.

The requirement of justice is also mentioned by several Muslim scholars, according to Afzalur Rahman in his book Women?s Rights in Islam. For example, 1) Maulana Maududi writing about the allowance of polygamy in the Quran, makes the comment: ?It should also be noted that this verse restricts polygamy with the provision of justice to all the wives; therefore whose abuse this permission without fulfilling the condition of justice and marries more wives than one tries to deceive Allah?. 2) Abdullah Yusuf Ali, a Quranic commentator, writes; ?the unrestricted number of wives of the time of jahiliah was now strictly limited to a maximum of four, provided you could treat them with perfect equality, in materials things as well as in affection and immaterial things. As this condition is most difficult to fulfill, I understand the recommendation to be towards monogamy?. And 3) Syed Ameer Ali writes: ?It is worthy of note that the clause in the Quran which contains the permission to contract four contemporaneous marriages, is immediately followed by a sentence which cuts down the significance of the preceding passage to its normal and legitimate dimensions. The subsequent lines declare, ?but if you cannot deal equitably and justly with all, you shall marry only one?.

From the above explanation, it is clear that justice on one hand, and the rights and interests of women whom men intend to marry, on the other, receive primary consideration. This also makes it unambiguous that justice is the central concept and polygamy cannot be treated as a right or privilege as has unfortunately happened in a male-dominated society.

It is clear, moreover, that scholarly feminists attempt to dispel the Western misconception about polygamy in Islam. They, therefore, try to devise a method of Quranic interpretation and rationalisation of religious dogma that enables them to respond to the criticism of Western commentators, while remaining committed to the basic Islamic tenets. For them, justice -- as one of the Islamic tenets -- is an important factor to be considered in interpreting Quranic verses on polygamy. Scholarly feminists contend that justice in a man-woman relationship can only be synonymous with love; and since a man is emotionally incapable of loving more than one woman equally at any given time, polygamy was therefore prohibited. This line of reasoning on the practical impossibility of love in a relationship involving one man with more than one wife -- hence, no possibility of practising justice -- according to Mansoor Moaddel, had become the standard approach among virtually all the Islamic modernist writers on the illegality of polygamy.

posted by Alin at 5:04 PM