Virtue of Polygamy

بسم الله الرحمـن الرحيم

والعاقبة للمتقين

It is quite ironic that in some non-Muslim countries like India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, Muslims are permitted by law to practice polygamy, whereas there are several so-called Muslim countries in which polygamy is criminalized. In a previous entry I explained that declaring something Haram which Allah Most High has declared Halal is not only apostasy from Islam but also a form of Shirk. In the Quraan al-Karim, Allah tells men to marry two, three or four women that seem suitable to them. Only if one is fearful that he cannot be just to his multiple wives is dispensation given for him to settle for a single wife (Sura 4: 3). In other words, the default is for believing Muslim men to have multiple wives, at least two and a maximum of four, and the exception is to have only one wife. Today it is certainly true that the vast majority of Muslim men aren’t polygamists. However, those who are able to should definitely make an effort to marry multiple women with the intention of emulating the blessed Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him & his family), who said:

تَزَوَّجْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ أَكْثَرُهَا نِسَاءً

“Marry, for indeed the best of this Umma are those who have many women”

(Musnad Ahmad)

Tragically, due to the toxic influence of Western/European values, modernism and feminism, the Muslim world has largely abandoned the virtuous practice of polygamy. In many “Muslim” countries (Tunisia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan) polygamy is even criminalized!

Now there are many practical benefits to polygamy. It is generally known that there is usually a slight imbalance in the sex ratio, with more women than men on average. Men tend to die earlier than women, both due to natural and unnatural causes, such as war. Furthermore, many women are widowed or divorced and find it difficult to remarry, especially in societies where polygamy is considered taboo. Islam has emphasized polygamy to counter the evil of monasticism that is associated with Christianity and other false religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Allah Most High has made the ancient patriarchs and prophets as the models of virtue and family life for the Believers to emulate. Those great men were not celibate monks living in cold cells, but instead had fulfilling, family lives as shepherds, marrying women and having an abundance of children. Indeed, Islam reveals that it is innate for man to have multiple women, and this is reflected in the fact that the believing men will have multiple consorts in the world to come, in Janna.