polygyny is permitted... but....

Submitted by Abdul Rahman Reijerink (Australia), May 27, 2006 at 06:35

Far too much emphasis is place on polygyny in the modern era. Yes it is permitted and no I wont provide sources, just take my word for it or look them up.

However,

there must be a need for it, like say in Russia after WWII where men were outnumbered by women so many women went without lawful husbands and were forced to live the life of goodtime girls to be with men and could not get men to commit... this alone does not seem like a good enough reason, the society should probably also be so patriarchal that women just cannot support themselves well lawfully without a husband, not exactly an admirable situation now that much of the world has moved on from being like that.

Also, muslims MUST obey the laws of the country they live in unless they contradict the laws of Allah, say disobeying an order in Nazi occupied europe to kill Jews is required of a Muslim, but the law in western democracies does not go against the law of Allah in terms of what a citizen must do, only in terms of what is permitted (abortion for non-medical reasons say) and noone says we have to have abortions do they, just that they are allowed (something I believe is correct, afterall if someone chooses to take that action, the state should not interfere, it is between them and Allah)...

Remember just because something was permitted in the past does not mean it was an ideal forever to be upheld, an example of this is the way alcohol was originally lawful then prohibited during prayer then completely, the way that many scholars look at polygyny is that it limited the previous practise of unlimited marriage in totally unequal circumstances for men and women... afterall it says in the Qur'an that we were created in PAIRS, pairs then is the ideal we should strive for.

In peace,

Abdul Rahman, servant of Allah the Most Merciful.

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