Polygamy and Justice

Polygamy is one of the issues criticized by feminists in general and Muslim feminists in particular. This tradition of marrying more than one wife (mistresses), is always controversial. There is a matter of textual interpretation involved. In Al Qur’an, there is a verse that explicitly allows for polygamy. This verse becomes the weapon for polygamy’s advocates to justify it in an Islamic perspective. But one should not forget, that the verse following the verse above contains the strict restriction: the matter of justice: “….and if you fear that you cannot do justice (to so many) then (marry) one only . . . .” The Muslim community should ask then: what is the nature of marriage in Islam?

Polygamy is one of the issues criticized by feminists in general and Muslim feminists in particular. This tradition of marrying more than one wife (mistresses), is always controversial. There is a matter of textual interpretation involved. In Al Qur’an, there is a verse that explicitly allows for polygamy. This verse becomes the weapon for polygamy’s advocates to justify it in an Islamic perspective. But one should not forget, that the verse following the verse above contains the strict restriction: the matter of justice: “….and if you fear that you cannot do justice (to so many) then (marry) one only . . . .” The Muslim community should ask then: what is the nature of marriage in Islam?

The first verses about polygamy in the Qur’an, seem to support polygamy. Ordinary logic also supports the Qur’an: try two first; if you still desire, three; if there is still a will and ability, you may take four. Some Muslim communities even prefer to have more wives than ever mentioned in Al Qur’an. Yet what is often forgotten is the spirit of this “polygamy verse”. Therein polygamy is a matter of justice. Justice for whom? Of course for the women because woman are the objects of polygamy.

God also asserted “you could not do justice, even if you try hard for it”. The Prophet himself admitted that his heart tended toward Aisha more than to any other wives. She was the only prophet’s wife who was a virgin, brilliant, and jealously spoiled. The Prophet could not do justice in the matters of the heart and less still those in his community.

If this is the contextual logic of verses on polygamy, we might ask: what is the real ideal in Islamic marriage? If this question was presented to a reformer such Muhammad Abduh, he would answer: monogamy. Don’t believe it? Read Abduh’s complete compilations: al-A’mal al-Kamilah. There, sheltered behind the view of Abduh who is the Egyptian mufti, “the male feminist” named Qasim Amin, advocates monogamy and even more than that in his magnum opus: Tahrir al-Mar’ah (woman’s liberation).

by: Novriantoni