Summary of the Issues

Rawang, Malaysia. 2009. Polygamist Mohammad Inaamulillah Bin Ashaari is shown with his four wives, from left, Rohaiza Esa, Ummu Habibah Raihaw, Nurul Azwa Mohd Ani, and Ummu Ammarah Asmis at the "Ikhwan Polygamy Club Family Day." Photo Credit: Mark Baker/AP Images.

Similar to Judaism and Christianity, Islam does not provide an explicit prohibition of polygamy. However, Islam has regulated and restricted polygamy, mandating conditions in which polygamy should be practiced and provided certain legal restraints that could amount to discouragement and even prohibition of the practice.¹ The verse permitting polygamy in Islam was revealed after the battle of Uhud, in which many men died, leaving many women, often with children, widowed. The permission to practice polygamy was not for mere satisfaction but was associated with compassion towards widows and orphans. Even under these circumstances, the Quran limits such practice by stating: “… marry women of your choice, two, three, or four; but if you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then marry only one.²

Many in the Muslim world practice polygamy unjustly and against religious conditions, which can offer a distorted view of the practice. Some women are often forced to accept her husband adopting another wife. Or at times they are ‘given’ to a husband that is already married and unfairly treated and discriminated upon. Women’s groups in Iran are fighting a proposed law that encourages polygamy by allowing a man to take a second wife without the permission of the first wife in certain circumstances, such as when the first wife faces a chronic medical condition or drug addiction, is mentally ill, suffers from infertility or if she does not cooperate sexually.³

Polygamy is legally permitted in most Muslim-majority countries. However, polygamy is not tolerated in Tunisia and in Morocco polygamy is subject to a judge’s authorization and to strict legal conditions.⁴ In 2008, Shahla Ezazi university professor of sociology at Allameh Tabatabai University, conducted a survey showing 96% of Iranian women do not approve of allowing a man to take another wife.⁵ The practice of polygamy can also go against Islamic jurisprudence in certain sub-Saharan African communities when the husband takes on more than four wives and financially cannot support them all. In Malaysia, polygamy is practiced frequently. Although polygamy is illegal in most non-Muslim-majority countries, many Muslim communities still engage in the practice. For example, in the United States 50,000 to 100,000 Muslims are estimated to live in polygamous families.⁶ Men marry one woman under civil law and any additional wives in a religious ceremony.

Nonetheless, there are some Muslim women who view polygamy favorably — particularly women who are widowed or divorced. Through polygamy women are often offered another opportunity for family life.

[1] Jamal Badawi- Poligamy is Islamic law
[2] Quran 4:3
[3] Sahar Sepheri. Iranian Women Fight Polygamy Proposal.
[4] Family Laws, Women’s Learning Partnership
[5] Sahar Sepheri. Iranian Women Fight Polygamy Proposal.
[6] Barbara Hagerty, NPR: Some Muslims in the US Quietly Engage in Polygamy