Most Common Questions asked by Non-Muslims
Q2. If a man is allowed to have more than one
wife, then why does Islam prohibit a woman from having more than one husband?
POLYANDRY
Answer:
A lot
of people, including some Muslims, question the logic of allowing Muslim men to
have more than one spouse while denying the same ‘right’ to women.
Let me
first state emphatically, that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice
and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different
capabilities and different responsibilities. Men and women are different,
physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are
different. Men and women are equal in Islam, but not identical.
Surah
Nisa’ Chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 gives the list of women with who you cannot marry
and it is further mentions in Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verse 24 “Also (prohibited
are) women already married.”
The
following points enumerate the reasons why polyandry is prohibited in Islam:
1. If a man has more than one wife, the parents of the children born of
such marriages can easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can
easily be identified. In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only
the mother of the children born of such marriages will be identified and not
the father. Islam gives tremendous importance to the identification of both
parents, mother and father. Psychologists tell us that children who do not know
their parents, especially their father undergo severe mental trauma and disturbances.
Often they have an unhappy childhood. It is for this reason that the children
of prostitutes do not have a healthy childhood. If a child born of such wedlock
is admitted in school, and when the mother is asked the name of the father, she
would have to give two or more names! I am aware that recent advances in
science have made it possible for both the mother and father to be identified
with the help of genetic testing. Thus this point which was applicable for the
past may not be applicable for the present.
2. Man is more polygamous by nature as compared to a woman.
3. Biologically, it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband
despite having several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several
husbands, will not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife. A woman
undergoes several psychological and behavioral changes due to different phases
of the menstrual cycle.
4. A woman who has more than one husband will have several sexual partners
at the same time and has a high chance of acquiring venereal or sexually
transmitted diseases which can also be transmitted back to her husband even if
all of them have no extra-marital sex. This is not the case in a man having
more than one wife, and none of them having extra-marital sex.
The
above reasons are those that one can easily identify. There are probably many
more reasons why Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom, has prohibited polyandry.
No comments:
Post a Comment