jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) (11/24/90)
danazzi@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel Azzi) writes on Soc.culture.arabic: >SX43@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK writes: > > >> As far as monogamy is concerned, four wives are a maximum and not >>a standard.. > >The Kor'an says "you may marry four provided you treat them equally and you will >NOT treat them equally". > No the Qur'an does not say the above. The Qur'an says: "...marry women of your choice, two, three, or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then (marry) only one..." (4:3) "And you will not be able to do justice among (your) wives, however much you may wish to. But do not turn away (from one of them) altogether..." (4:129) >A simple logical analysis of that statement would reveal that you can only >marry one woman. As to why the statement was phrased in that manner, there >are many theories. > Analysis of verse 4:3 shows that one can marry upto four women, as long as one satisfies the condition of being "able to deal justly" with each of them. If the condition is not satisfied, then one should stick to one wife. What has confused people is the verse 4:129. One group of people (which includes Gamal Badawi) contend that this verse is meant to discourage plural marriages, and had not some special cases existed, polygamy would not have been allowed at all. I tend to agree with the alternative interpretation: Al-Qaradawi : "The equal treatment mentioned here pertains to the *rights* of the wives, not to the love the husband feels toward them, for equality in the division of love is beyond human capacity and any imbalance in this regard is forgiven by Allah Ta'ala.." Maududi : (xlation by Muhammad Akbar) "Allah has made it clear that the husband cannot literally keep equality between wives because they themselves cannot be equal in all respects. It is too much to demand from a husband that he should mete out equal treatment to a beautiful wife and to an ugly wife, to a young wife and to an old wife, to a healthy wife and to an invalid wife and to a good natured wife and to an ill-natured wife. These and like things naturally make a husband more inclined towards one wife than towards the other. In such cases, the Islamic Law does not demand equal treatment between them in affection and love. What it does demand is that the wife should not be neglected as to be practically reduced to the position of the woman who has no husband at all. If the husband does not divorce her for any reason or at her own request, she should at least be treated as a wife. It is true that under such circumstances the husband is naturally more inclined towards a favourite wife, but he should not, so to say, keep the other in such a state of suspense as if she were not his wife. From this verse some people wrongly conclude that, though the Qur'an allows more than one wife, it practically cancels this permission by asserting, "...it is not possible for you to be perfectly equitable in your treatment with all your wives..." They forgot that this is only a part of the whole instruction and the Qur'an does not stop at this but adds, "...do not lean towards one wife..." As this Commandment takes into consideration the existance of more than one wife allowed by the Qur'an, it leaves no loophole of escape for the Westernised people from the fact that Islam does allow polygamy under certain conditions." NB: In Maududi's "The Meaning of the Qur'an" the whole of verse 129 is translated as follows: "It is not within your power to be perfectly equitable in your treatment with all your wives, even if you wish to be so; therefore,(in order to satisfy the dictates of Divine Law) do not lean wholly towards one wife so as to leave the other in a state of suspense. If you behave righteously and fear Allah, you will find Allah Forgiving and Compassionate." (4:129) > >Daniel Jemshed Nawaz
SX43%LIVERPOOL.AC.UK@evans.ucar.edu (11/27/90)
//////////////Original message////////////// As-Salaamu alaikum, In article <1990Nov23.161205.6001@nntp-server.caltech.edu>, jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz) says: > >danazzi@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel Azzi) writes on Soc.culture.arabic: > >>SX43@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK writes: >> >> >>> As far as monogamy is concerned, four wives are a maximum and not >>>a standard.. >> >>The Kor'an says "you may marry four provided you treat them equally and you >will >>NOT treat them equally". >> > >No the Qur'an does not say the above. The Qur'an says: > "...marry women of your choice, two, three, or four; but if >you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then >(marry) only one..." (4:3) > "And you will not be able to do justice among (your) wives, >however much you may wish to. But do not turn away (from one of them) >altogether..." (4:129) [Rest of pretty thorough article deleted] I'd just like to add another point or two on this marriage theme.. Firstly, to provide additional evidence that a Muslim *may* have up to four wives, let us remember that many of the companions of the prophet had more than one wife. One, a chief of some clan, on turning to Islam, was told to divorce all but four of his wives. Another example, for which I don't have the reference, is of a companion who came to the prophet seeking guidance in that he was poor, and what should he do. He was told to marry, for each person brings their own Rizq (sustenance) with them.. he ended up coming back again and again until he had married four times, on the advice of the prophet. Perhaps someone else could actually look through the Sahih collections and post the actual ahadith relating these two stories; I would be grateful. Jemshed has already mentioned, and I would like to stress, that the equality mentioned in the Qur'an must clearly mean equality in material terms. Even the prophet, Peace on him, who was the best of men, could not have equal affection for all his wives; but he left an example of strict fairness in the time and resources he spent on them. This material aspect is what we are able to control. If a man were able control his heart (to the degree required to allow him to ensure that he gave equal affection to all his wives) then why would divorce, that most hated of halal things, not be haram ? I have come to the conclusion that Muslims have developed some sort of inferiority complex by which we apologetically try to make our Deen appear to conform to the moral system of the West, in an attempt to make it look civilised in the Western sense. We ought to realise that Islam is _Perfect_, and try to look at our faith without these shackles of prejudice imposed by Western ideology; perhaps then will we be able to confidently _implement_ Islam in our own lives to the extent of setting forward a real alternative to the blind way of life followed by most in our part of the world. The old muslim world sure isn't doing that yet, so maybe it's up to us here. As far as the polygyny issue is concerned, unless I am convinced to the contrary from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, I feel that it is OK even without the existence of special circumstances in society (like shortage of men after a war..), given the examples I have read and mentioned above, plus having read Jemsheds post. Peacefully, Fazal.