Polygamy: Cure Or Curse

Polygamy: Cure Or Curse

Abdul Wahid Osman “Belal”

“ISLAM”, says Lady Evelyn Cobbold, “is the religion of common-sense. It is the most practical religion and the one most A to solve the world’s many perplexing problems and to bring to humanity peace and happiness.”

It is so only if we have a correct knowledge, proper understanding and true appreciation of the teachings of Islam, which definitely lead us to the conclusion that the real beauty manifests itself by practicing religion according to its inner spirit, and whatever Islam has made incumbent is reasonable and meant for the good of those who care to follow, for the teachings of Islam always aim at the upliftment and elevation of humanity.

A close and deep study of the Holy Qur’an and the authentic traditions is very necessary to understand the religion of Islam as preached by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).

No religion is more misunderstood today than Islam. The fault is not of Islam but of the ignorance which prevails because of meagre Islamic propaganda.

Hostile critics and sworn enemies of Islam level a false charge against it that it has encouraged licentiousness by legalizing polygamy. We shall see how far it is true.

Polygamy was practiced since the days of Patriarch Abraham, and several passages of the Bible show that it was not regarded unlawful. Plutarch mentions that polygamy was permitted among the ancient Greeks. Among the Romans, Mark Antony had two wives; and Emperor Valentinian granted permission to all his subjects for marrying several wives, if they pleased, to which not a single Bishop raised his voice in protest. Clotaire, King of France, his sons Heribartus and Hypericus, Pepin and Charlemagne, Lothaire and his son, Arnophus VII (Emperor of Germany and a descendant of Charlemagne), Frederic Barbarossa, and Philip Theodotus (King of France) all had several wives.

In early times, from the days of Ceasar, people also practiced polyandry, i.e. plurality of husbands, five or ten husbands having one woman as a wife among them. Celibacy was encouraged by Roman Catholic missionaries, for they had a very low idea of marriage. Marriage with a widow was considered bigamy and punishable by religious law. So monogamy took its place.

On 22nd November, 726, Pope Gregory in a reply to Boniface, Confessor of Lower Germany, wrote: “If a wife be attacked by a malady which renders her unfit for conjugal intercourse, the husband may marry another, but in that case he must allow his sick wife all necessary support and assistance.”

In or about the middle of the sixteenth century several works were published in defense of polygamy by Christians like Bernardo Orchimus, General of the Order of Capuchins, and Lysarus under the penname of Theophilus Aleuthes. In Uxor Hebraica Selden proved that polygamy was allowed not only among the Jews but among all other nations.

The famous English poet, John Milton, was a distinguished defender of polygamy. He proved in his Treatise an Christian Doctrine that the Bible supported polygamy.

The above facts show beyond any shadow of doubt that by sanctioning polygamy the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) did not introduce anything new, and a comparison of the past with the present clearly shows that an improvement was made on it by narrowing down the limits.

Therefore it is wrong to think that polygamy sanctioned by Islam is a curse instead of a cure, for it was Islam and only Islam that gave woman a place in society which she occupies and feels proud of, which was never the/case before Islam‘s appearance when she was considered to be a mere chattel.

Polygamy can prove a curse if the following Qur’anic verse is misunderstood wherein permission to take four wives is granted:

“Marry women of your choice, two or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly then only one or (a captive) that your right-hands possess. That will be more suitable, to prevent, you from doing injustice.”

This verse is found in the fourth chapter, i.e., An-Nisa, of the Holy Qur’an and was revealed at a time when Muslims were kept engaged in wars for defending their Faith and themselves against enemies who were determined to wipe them out from the surface of the earth.

The number of Muslims was already few and went on decreasing. Thus women lost their husbands and children their fathers.

After the Battle of Uhud, under such circumstances, there were only two alternatives: (i) either leave the widows and ophans uncared for or (ii) allow women to take up prostitution for satisfying their sexual needs and maintaining themselves. Both were hateful in the eyes of Allah and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). At least Divine Revelation guided to a solution by permitting limited polygamy.

Only through limited polygamy could the surplus female population be provided for, and the women could satisfy their sexual needs within legal bounds, economically supported and helped in increasing the population.

So polygamy is a cure. No doubt Islam allows a man to take four wives, but not for sensuous pleasure. There are certain conditions. If the first wife is unable to bear children or remains chronically ill, or if one wants to support the widows and orphans by marrying the widows he can marry more than one wife.

In the Western countries where polygamy is not practiced, women leading single lives suffer from physical and mental ailments, or turn into professional prostitutes.

Dr. Oswald Schwarz says in The Psychology of Sex: “A large part of woman’s body is organized for gestation, and if a woman is denied the fulfillment of her physical and mental organization, she withers. But in motherhood she acquires a new spiritual beauty, which by far outshines any damage her body may have suffered.”

In the same book, the writer at another place writes: “Every organ of our body wants to function, and if it is prevented from doing so, the whole equilibrium of the organism is disturbed. Thus, a woman needs a child not because of her maternal instinct or any moral sense of duty imposed on her from without but because her Whole organism is built for the purpose of bearing a child, and if her organism is denied this fulfillment the frustration affects her whole personality.”

Dr. Alexis Carrel in Man the Unknown writes: “. . . . females, at any rate among the mammals, seem only to attain their full development after one or more pregnancies. Women who have no children are not so well balanced and become more nervous than others. In short, the presence of foetus acts profoundly on women.”