WHITHER THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY?
V.M. KHALEELUR RAHMAN
This has reference to the following three write-ups. No sensible person can deny the fact that there is an urgent need to regulate, control and supervise marriages and divorces for all communities, not just for Muslims alone as there are misusers of the present weak laws. Muslims cannot be an exception to it.. If we observe the Muslim community, we will find that polygyny is very rare among them. We rarely see Muslims having more than even one wife. I have never seen a Muslim living with four wives. My feeling is that generally every Muslim is faithful to his wife. The rich are more so. It is usually the perverted people who resort to second marriage and suffer. There are more sufferers among the people who live with two wives. I know a person whose first wife deserted him and went to her parents when he solemnised a second marriage without her permission and started living with her. A problem cropped up and remained unsolved for sometime. Finally she returned to her husband only when he divorced his second wife.
Prophet Mohammed (Sal-am) lived with a single wife Hazrath Khathija (R.A.) for more than 25 years. Islam undoubtedly advocates monogamy and permits polygyny under certain "unavoidable circumstances". In other words there must be a sound reason for adopting a second wife. This is the case in most of the Muslim countries. In Saudi Arabia it is not so and that is why parents of girls are demanding high "dowry" ( or you may call it by whatever name you want) for giving their daughters in marriage to Saudi men who are considered unreliable. We must know that there are thousands of unmarried women there because of the ugly attitude of men regarding marriage and divorce. The Arab News brings out such things quite often. Generally polygamy is used in the polygyny sense. Nobody says that Islam permits a woman to have more than one husband. Anyhow Mr. Momin's explanation is correct. But it is not a reply to the court judgment.
The Supreme Court advocate? A. Rasheed Qureshi's arguments are simply ridiculous, highly objectionable and totally unacceptable because there is no sign of Islamic thought in his arguments. A good man - whatever may be his ideology -cannot indulge in "Zina" (adultery), leave alone Muslims. The Kerala High Court's stand is praise-worthy. The same marital laws cannot and should not be for all times. One should know that Islam gives laws for all times - yes totally different laws depending on the situation. The holy Quran dictates everything clearly and we do not want to listen to it. We should not forget the holy Quranic warning that if we do not do justice, God appoints others to do that. In our country India fortunately government, judiciary, Muslim intellectuals, etc. have enacted and are trying to enact wonderful laws which are in accordance with the letter and spirit of the holy Quran in many instances whereas a majority of our so called "Ulemas" are repeating the worn out things in the name of Islam for which there are no takers. There are a very few thinking Ulemas. My sympathies are with the advocate for his pathetic condition and un-Islamic bent of mind.
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Kerala High Court for a system to regulate Muslim marriages ‘Moral strength needed to eradicate polygamy’ In Pakistan, Muslim family law regulates polygamy KOCHI: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that legislation for setting up bodies at Central and regional levels to regulate, control and supervise Muslim marriages and divorces was the need of the hour. The Bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Harun-Ul-Rashid, while passing a verdict in a matrimonial case involving a Muslim couple, said an effective system should be introduced for protecting the Muslim society and women from “indiscreet marriage and divorce.” The court observed that though polygamy was allowed in the strict sense by Islam, there was no system in India to supervise or control such indiscreet marriage and divorce. Going by Koranic verses, permission to marry more than one woman, but not more than four, was given at a time when there were lots of orphans, widows and captives of war who were unable to maintain a dignified life. Polygamy was allowed then due to unavoidable circumstances. In fact, the practice was discouraged by imposing stringent conditions. The court observed that even after 15th century, some people of the community seemed to be very particular in following the practice, unmindful of whether such circumstances existed or not. They entered into more than one marriage, mostly for their personal pleasure. The court said polygamy was unlawful in the country. It called for moral strength, if not religious factor, to eradicate polygamy from among the Muslims. The court said there was no system in the country to ascertain and decide whether a person was eligible to contract more than one marriage during the subsistence of the first marriage. Men in the community enjoyed unrestricted freedom to marry women of their choice and pronounce talaq according to their whims and fancies. In fact, most of such marriages were illegal since they were against Koranic injunctions. The court pointed out that in Pakistan, Muslim family law regulated polygamy and provided for an arbitration council. The Bench appealed to all concerned within the community and the administrative authority and the government to study the problems faced by “helpless and destitute women and children” and bestow thoughts on the ways and means to alleviate their problems.
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To say Islam permits POLYGAMY is wrong.I have explained it below POLYGAMY The generel impression is that Islam permits Polygamy.It is wrong-totally wrong. I will explain below why it is wrong to say so. The word Polygamy covers two words POLYANDRY and POLYGYNY.I will explain below what these two words mean. POLYANDRY means one wife and she has more than one husband-a practice prevalent among some tribes.Polyandry is not permitted in Islam.Infact it is not permitted among followers of any Book. POLYGYNY is one husband and more than one wife-restricted to four in Islam under some circumstances and not a generel license. This can be checked with any English Dictionary Therefore to say Islam permits Polygamy is wrong because it means it permits both Polyandry and Polygyny Muslims must say Islam permits only restricted Polygyny limited to maximum four under special circumstance but if you fear you will not do justice between them, then Holy Quran recomends one only.Sura 4 NISSA verse 3. If any one says Islam permits Polygamy please correct him or her.It is our duty A.MOMIN Please make copies and circulate Please read belowFrom: Abdul Rasheed Qureshi <rasheed1357@yahoo.co.in> Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:17:38 +0530 (IST)As Salamo AlaykumIt would be worthwhile to take the fight to the doorstep of the accuser. Islam permits marriage with four women at a time. Meaning if one of the four dies or is divorced, it is open to marry another woman and again have four wives. Let us not fight shy of admiting that the masculine gender tends to be physically satisfied by sex with more than one female. How does one satisfy it? Either it must be legally permitted as in Islam or it could be illegal as in the non-Muslim society.The fact is that a very large majority of non-Muslim males and females have illegal sex - be it pre-marital or extra-marital. It is an epidemic having reached menacing levels in thier society. Of a surity, this is rare in Muslims. If it (illegal sex ) is prevelant in Muslims, it is because Nikah has become difficult. If Nikah with the permitted 4 women is made easy, Zinah will become difficult.If we shy away, it will be extremely difficult to explain why the Prophet had so many wives. You could nearly be blasphamous. Prophet Muhammad had married for several higher reasons other than for physical sex.I believe Islam does not say that marriage of Hindus or Christians is no marriage. It is a marriage, although it is a ritual by thier rules. They are not living in Zinah till they cohabit with their lawfully wedded woman. But outside and beyond that is all Zinah. We Muslims (Islam) consider 'sex by consent' as Zinah - a mojor sin, while most other societies do not even consider it bad - much less a major sin. So our rules of judging 'illegal sex' are stricter than all other societies.The losers in all relations of illegal sex are invariably the females. So Islam proposes a very respectable living for the women folk who may lose their husbands even during thier younger life. As 2nd, 3rd or 4th wife, they have a respectable living anyway. In other societies she becomes the property of all males and leads a debauched life.Can someone tell the judges of Kerala HC that Quranic injunctions are apt for all times and all places for they address human instincts and needs which are unchanging.May Allah Keep Us on Siratal Mustaqeem.Was SalamA Rasheed QureshiAdvocate - Supreme Court of India
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