Polygamy in Islam: A Social Solution to Gender Imbalance
In terms
of the birth rate, men and women are almost equal in number. But subsequently,
for a variety of reasons, the number of men in society decreases, leaving an
excess of women. Now the question arises as to what should be the solution to
this problem.
In view
of the inevitability of this imbalance, how is a healthy relationship between
the sexes to be established? The choice for us, therefore, is not between
monogamy and polygamy, but rather, between the lawful polygamy of Islam
or the illicit polygamy
of non-Islamic peoples.
Polygamy in the Quran
One of
the commandments given in the Quran as a matter of social organization concerns
polygamy, that is permission for a man to marry up to four women: {If you fear that you cannot treat orphans with fairness,
then you may marry such women (widowed) as seem good to you: two, three or four
of them. But if you fear that you cannot do justice, marry one only.} [An-Nisa’
4:3]
This
verse was revealed after the Battle of Uhud (Shawwal 3 A.H.) in which seventy
Muslims were martyred. Suddenly, seventy homes in Medina were bereft of all
male members, and the question arose as to how all these widows and orphans
were to be cared for.
This was
an acute social problem. It was solved by the revelation of this verse asking
the people who could afford it to take care of the orphans, by marrying the widows and keeping their orphaned
children under their guardianship.
Is
Polygamy a Temporary Command or a Universal Solution?
The
background and wording of this verse appear to express a commandment that
should be only temporary in effect. That is to say that it applied only to a
particular state of emergency when, due to loss of men in battle, the number of
women exceeded the number of available men.
But the
Quran, despite its having been revealed at a particular time and place, is
universal in its application. One of the great characteristics of the Quran is
that it describes eternal realities, with reference to temporal issues, this
commandment being typical of this special quality of the Quran.
When
Numbers Make Polygamy Necessary
One point
greatly in need of clarification is the fact that in the matter of marrying
more than one woman, the initiative does not lie solely with any individual
man. There is always the condition-an inescapable one—that whatever the
society, the women should outnumber the men.
Suppose
the earth were inhabited by one billion people out of which 500 million were
men and 500 million were women. It would not then be possible in such a
situation for a man to have more than one wife. A second, third or fourth wife
would be obtained only by force.
But in
Islam, a forced marriage is not considered lawful. According to the Shari`ah the
willingness of the bride-to-be is a compulsory condition.
Looked at
from a practical angle, the above commandment of the Quran can be complied with
only if that particular situation exists in society that existed in Medina
after the Battle of Uhud—that is, there is a disproportion in the ratio of men
and women.
In the
absence of such a situation, this commandment of the Quran would be
inapplicable. But studies of human society and its history have shown that the
situation in ancient Medina was not one that existed only at a particular point
in time. It is a situation that had almost always been prevalent throughout the
entire world. That situation of emergency is, in fact, the general situation of
mankind. This commandment is yet another proof of God’s omniscience. His
commandment, seemingly elicited by an emergency, became an eternal commandment
for the whole of our world.
The
Inequality in Numbers: Why Women Outnumber Men
Records
show that male and female births are almost equal in number. But a study of
mortality shows that the rate is higher for men than for women. This disparity
is in evidence from early childhood to extreme old age. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica: “In general, the risk of death at any given age is
less for females than for males.”
The
proportionately higher numbers of women in society can be traced to a variety
of causes. For instance, when war breaks out, the majority of the casualties
are men. In the First World War (1914-18) about 8 million soldiers were killed.
Most of the civilians killed were also men. In the Second World War (1939-45)
about 60 million people were either killed or maimed for life, most of them
men. In the Iraq-Iran war alone (1979-1988), 82,000 Iranian women and about
100,000 Iraqi women were widowed. All in the space of ten years.
Another
drain on the availability of men in society is imprisonment. In the U.S., the
most civilized society of modem times, no less than 1,300,000 people are
convicted daily for one crime or another. A number of them-97% of whom are
men-are obliged to serve lengthy prison sentences.
The
modern industrial system too is responsible for the lower proportion of men in
society, death by accident having become a matter of daily routine in present
times. There is no country in which accidents do not take place every day on
the streets, in the factories and wherever sophisticated, heavy machinery is
handled by human beings. In this modem industrial age, such accidents are so
much on the increase that a whole new discipline has come into being-safety
engineering. According to data collected in 1967, in that year a total of
175,000 people died as the result of accidents in fifty different countries.
Most of these were men.
In spite
of safety engineering, casualties from industrial accidents have increased. For
instance, the number of air accidents in 1988 was higher than ever before.
Similarly, experimentation in arsenals continues to kill people in all
industrialized countries, but the death toll is never made public. Here again,
it is men who have the highest casualty rate.
Gender
Imbalance in Western Societies
For
reasons of this nature, women continue to outnumber men. This difference
persists in even the most developed societies, e.g. in America. According to
data collected in 1967, there were nearly 7,100,000 more women than men. This
means that even if every single man in America got married, 7,100,000 women
would be left without husbands.
We give
below the data of several western countries to show the ratio of men to women.
Country
Male
Female
Austria
47.7%
52.93%
Bunna
48.81
51.19
Germany
48.02
51.89
France
48.99
51.01
Italy
48.89
51.01
Poland
48.61
51.30
Spain
48.94
51.06
Switzerland
48.67
51.33
Soviet
Union
46.59
53.03
United
States
48.58
51.42
Consent
in Islamic Marriage
The
presence of a greater number of women in a society is not the only prerequisite
for polygamy. It is,
in addition, compulsory that the woman who is the object of the man’s choice
should be willing to enter into the married state. This willingness on the
woman’s part is a must before a marriage can be lawful in Islam. It is unlawful
to marry a woman by force. There is no example in the history of Islam where a
man has been allowed to force a woman into marriage.
Prophet
Muhammad’s own view that “an unmarried girl
should not be married until her permission has been taken” had been recorded by both Al-Bukhari and Muslim. `Abdullah
Ibn `Abbas, one of the Prophet’s Companions and a commentator on the Quran,
narrates the story of a girl who came to the Prophet complaining that her
father had her married off against her wishes. The Prophet gave her the choice
of either remaining within the bonds of wedlock or of freeing herself from
them.
Examples
of Muslim Women’s Freedom in Marriage
Another
such incident narrated by `Abdullah Ibn `Abbas concerns a woman called Burairah
and her husband, Mughith, who was a black slave. `Abdullah Ibn `Abbas tells the
story as if it were all happening before his very eyes: “Mughith is following Burairah through the paths of
Medina. He is crying and his tears are running down his beard. Seeing him, the
Prophet said to me, ‘O `Abbas, are you not surprised at Mughith’s love for
Burairah and Burairah’s hate for Mughith?’ Then the Prophet said to Burairah,
‘I wish you would take him back.’ Burairah said to the Prophet, ‘Is that a
command?’ The Prophet replied, ‘No, it is only a recommendation.’ Then Burairah
said, ‘I don’t need your recommendation.”’
There was
an interesting case of polygamy which took place during the Caliphate of `Umar Ibn
Al-Khattab. A certain widow, Umm Aban Bint `Utbah had four suitors for
marriage. All four—`Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, `Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Zubayr and
Talhah—were already married. Umm Aban accepted the proposal of marriage made by
Talhah and, of course, refused the other three, whereupon she was married to
Talhah.
This
happened in Medina, the capital of the Islamic State. Among the rejected
suitors was the reigning Caliph. But no one expressed even surprise or dismay,
the reason being that in Islam, a woman is
completely free to make her own decisions. This is a right that no one can take
away from her-not even the ruler of the day.
These
incidents show that the Islamic commandments giving permission to marry up to
four women does not mean having the right to seize four women and shut them up inside one’s home. Marriage is a matter of mutual
consent. Only that woman can be made a second or a third wife who is willing to
be so. And when this matter rests wholly on the willingness of the woman, there
is no cause for objection.
Also Read:
- Historical Roots of Oppressing Women in Western Civilization
- Women: Complete in Intellect and Faith?!
- Women’s Role in Society and Family in Islam vs. the West
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Taken from the book: “Polygamy and Islam” by Sheikh Wahiduddin
Khan
