Why Polygamy is allowed in Islam

[Hafiz Zafar Ali]

One of the most common questions asked by Non Muslims is: Why Polygamy
is allowed in Islam or Why does Islam allow a man to have more than
one wife. Some Muslims find it hard to answer this criticism
effectively and convince the Non Muslims. Polygamy means a person is
allowed to have more than one spouse at the same time. Polygamy is
further subdivided into tow parts: 1) Polygyny: A man having more than
one wife and 2) Polyandry: A woman having more than one husband. Islam
does not permit all types of Polygamy. It permits limited Polygyny. It
permits man to marry more than one woman. Quran is the only religious
scripture on the face of the earth which says "Marry only one wife".
There is no other religious scripture on the face of the earth which
says Marry only one. The Jewish scriptures have no upper limit as to
how many you can marry. You can marry as many as you wish. If you read
the christian Bible, you can marry as many as you wish. It is the
church which a couple of centuries ago has put an upper limit maximum
one. Islam allows a man to marry maximum four wives. Quran says in
surah Nisa, ch: 4, v: 3. "And if you be apprehensive that you will be
able to do justice to the orphans, you may marry two or three or four
women whom you choose. But if you apprehend that you might not be able
to do justice to them, then marry only one wife, or marry those women
who have fallen in your possession. This will be the better course to
avoid injustice". It demonstrates that Islam allows a man to marry
more than one wife only if he is able to do justice to them. In other
words, Islam prohibits Polygamy if there is injustice among wives.
There are five categories of Do's and Don'ts in Islam.1) Compulsory
(Farz) 2) Encouraged (Mustahab) 3) Optional (Mubah) 4) Discouraged
(Makrooh) 5) Prohibited (Haram). Polygyny falls in the middle category
of Optional.
Logical reason: By nature male and female are born in equal proportion
but even in childhood
the female sex can fight the germs, diseases and bacteria much better
than the male sex
so there are more male children dying than the female children. More
males die due to road accidents, wars and cigarette smoking than femal
resulting in outnumber the latter population. Today in the world there
are more females than males. In America alone, there are 7.8 million
females more than males. In UK alone, there are 4 million females more
than males.In Germany alone,there are 5 million females more than
males. In Russia alone, there are 9 million females more than males.
So if every man marries only one wife, there will be 40 million
females without a husband. The only option remaining for these women
is to either marry a man who already has a wife or becomes a public
property. Any modest woman will opt for the first option to live a
dignified and honorable life because this way she can get protection
and rights. This is the reason that Islam has allowed some men to
marry more than wife to protect the modesty of women not to degrade
it.