Mary Ali
(part 1 of 2)
Polygamy has been practiced by mankind for thousands of years. Many of the old Israelites had been polygamous, some had hundreds of women. King Solomon is said to have had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. His father David had ninety-nine and Jacob, from whom the tribes of Israel descended, had four. [1] Some wise Jewish men advised that no man should marry more than four women.
No early society has limited the number of women or imposed any conditions on how they should be treated. Jesus himself did not speak out against polygamy. Polygamy was practiced until the 17th century and was accepted by some sects of the Christian Church. The Mormons allowed and practiced polygamy. Mormons have allowed polygamy and still practice it in the United States.
Monogamy was introduced to Christianity in the time of Paul, in which many changes in Christianity took place. This was done to better adapt the church to the dominant Greco-Roman culture, where men were monogamous but had numerous slaves that they could freely use: in other words, it was as good as unrestricted polygamy [2].
Early Christians introduced ideas that women were „full of sin“ and a man would be better off „never getting married“. Since this would have meant the end of humanity, these very people compromised and said „just marry one“.
In American society, the husband often abandons his wife often enough when relationships are tense. He can then associate with a prostitute or other immoral without the legalizing ritual of marriage. Women sometimes act similarly, leave their husbands and then live in an immoral relationship with a new partner. Even more common is ’simple living together‘ before marriage, possibly to try out different partners before settling down with someone.
In fact, there are three types of polygamy practiced in Western societies:
(1) Serial polygamy: that is marriage, divorce, marriage, divorce and so on in any number imaginable.
(2) A man who is married to a woman, but has and maintains one or more mistresses.
(3) An unmarried man has a certain number of mistresses. Islam approves the first and forbids the other two.
Wars are responsible for the fact that the number of women far exceeds that of men. In a monogamous society, those women who are left without husbands or support end up as prostitutes, in illicit relationships with married men, have illegitimate children for whom no father takes responsibility, or live a lonely life as a maid or widow.
Some Western men believe that monogamy protects women’s rights. But do these men really care about women’s rights? Society has so many practices that exploit and oppress women, and this is what has led to the formation of women’s rights movements, from the suffragettes of the early twentieth century to today’s feminists, and the campaigns of these movements still advocate equal treatment in society and also before the law.
In fact, monogamy protects men, allowing them to „play around“ without responsibility. Simple contraception and easy legal abortion have opened the door to unauthorized sexual intercourse and the so-called sexual revolution has been faked for them. But women are still the victims when it comes to the trauma of an abortion and the side effects of contraceptives.
Aside from STDs, herpes and AIDS, men continue to enjoy without worry. Men are the ones protected by monogamy, while women remain victims of men’s desires. Polygamy is rejected in the male-dominated society because it forces men to take responsibility and to be loyal. It would hold them responsible for their polygamous tendencies and would protect and care for women and children.
Footnotes:
[1] A detailed list of biblical persons who have been polygamy can be found here (http://www.biblicalpolygamy.com/).
[2] “As for the only important ancient peoples that show little or no traces of it [(polygamy)], the Greeks and Romans were. Nevertheless, the concubinate, which can be considered a form of polygamy, or at least not purely monogamy, has been recognized as a use for centuries and has been legalized in these two nations. ” The ‚Catholic Encyclopedia‘: (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09693a.htm)
(part 2 of 2)
Of all polygamous societies in history, none has limited the number of women. All relationships were unlimited. Regulations in Islam regarding polygamy limit the number of women a man can have by making him responsible for all of his women.
“And if you are afraid of not being fair to the orphans, get married to women that suit you well, two, three or four; and if you fear not being cheap, (marry) one or what is in your right hand. This is the best way to avoid injustice. ” (Quran 4: 3)
This verse from the Qur’an allows a man to marry more than one woman, but only if he is just with them.
“And you cannot practice justice between women, however much you may wish. But do not lean completely (one) so that you leave the other in suspension (ie neither married nor divorced). ” (Quran 4: 129)
The prophet, God’s blessings and peace be with him, was inspired by God how to deal with multiple marriages and the difficulties involved. It is not an easy matter for a man, two women, two families and two households to manage and to be fair between them. No man of reason would go into such a situation without thinking.
The basis of a matrimonial relationship is good morals and joy in building a just and cohesive society in which the needs of men and women are taken into account. Current Western society, which allows free sex between mature adults, has created an abundance of irresponsible sexual relationships, a myriad of „fatherless“ children and numerous unmarried teenage mothers; all of them will become a burden on the country’s social network. In some cases, it is such an undesirable burden that has inflated budget deficits that even economically strong countries like the United States can hardly cope with it. Extended budget deficits have become a political game ball
So we see an artificially created monogamy that has become a factor in destroying the family structure, as well as the country’s social, economic and political system.
It must be a prophet, and in fact it was the prophet Muhammad who instructed the Muslims to marry or to remain patient until they got married. Abdullah b. Mas’ud reported that the Messenger of God said:
“Young men, those of you who can entertain a woman, should get married because it prevents you from looking at foreign women and protects you from immorality; but those who cannot do this should fast because it is a means of suppressing sexual desire. ” (Sahieh Al-Bukhari, Sahieh Muslim)
Islam wants people to get married and develop a good family structure. Islam respects the needs of society and individuals, where polygamy can offer a solution to many problems. For this reason, Islam allowed polygamy, but limited the number of women to four.
In the Muslim societies of our time, polygamy is not often practiced despite legal permission. It seems that men are afraid to enter into limited, responsible polygamy, whereas polygamous relationships are often entered into in an unregulated, non-responsible way, which one can break out of without taking responsibility for the families for which one is responsible is.
(In this article, the term polygamy was used to describe polygyny, which means having two or more women. Islam prohibits polyandry, which means having two or more husbands.)
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/wer-praktiziert-polygamie