The Historical Context In Which Polygyny Was Permitted In Islam
By Riffat Hassan
27 Nov 2020
I HAVE read
Nikhat Sattar’s article on ‘Multiple marriages’, published in this paper in
September, in which she has kindly referred to me. My analysis of the Quranic
texts relevant in the context of polygyny, which is the contracting of multiple
marriages by a man, is given below.
There is
only one Quranic passage (Surah 4: An-Nisa’: 2-3) in which specific reference
is made to polygyny as a social institution and permission to marry more than
one wife is given under highly exceptional circumstances and with extremely
stringent conditions.
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It is
important to know the historical context in which polygyny was permitted in
Islam. After his hijrah to Madina from Makkah in 622 AD, Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) laid the foundations of the first Muslim society. This embryonic society
was seriously threatened by the Makkans who waged three wars against the
Muslims in Madina. As a result of these wars, a large number of men were
killed, leaving behind dependent women and children. In addition, the property
of orphans had to be protected. (In English, the word ‘orphan’ refers to a
child who has lost both parents. However, in Arabic, the term ‘Yateem’ refers
to a child who has lost his or her father.)
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Also Read:
Love, Sex and Marriage in the Qur’an
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The Quran
exhibiting deep concern regarding this matter, enjoined in Surah 4: An-Nisa’:
2-3 “Render unto the orphans their possessions, and do not substitute bad
things (of your own) for the good things (that belong to them), and do not
consume their possessions together with your own: this, verily, is a great
crime. And if you have reason to fear that you might not act equitably towards
orphans, then marry from among (other) women such as are lawful to you — (even)
two, or three, or four: but if you have reason to fear that you might not be
able to treat them with equal fairness, then (only) one.”
It is important
to view polygyny in a historical context.
The
implications of the above-cited text are:
(1) Justice
must be done to orphans because this is what God desires.
(2) If a
Muslim man cannot do this selflessly, then — and only then — is he allowed to
marry more than one woman — up to four women.
(3) Since
permission for polygyny has been given in order to safeguard the rights of
orphans, there has to be a relationship between the woman or women whom the
Muslim man marries and the orphans, because marrying a woman unrelated to
orphans will not be of help in safeguarding their rights.
(4) While
doing justice to orphans is mandatory, so also is doing justice to all the
women whom a Muslim man marries. If he cannot do justice to all his wives, he
must have only one wife.
Polygyny,
then, is permitted by the Quran but only in conditions of great social hardship
and for humanitarian purposes.
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The
stringent conditions relating to justice have been generally disregarded.
Efforts to trivialise them have also been made by quoting Surah 4: An-Nisa’:
129 out of context. This verse reads as follows: “It will not be within your
power to treat your wives with equal fairness, however much you may desire it;
and so, do not allow yourselves to incline towards one to the exclusion of the
other, leaving her in a state, as it were, of having and not having a husband.
But if you put things to rights and are conscious of Him — behold, God is
indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.”
This verse
has often been cited to indicate that the Quran itself recognises the human
inability to treat multiple wives “with equal fairness”. From this, the
inference is drawn that the commandment to be just to all one’s wives given in
Surah 4: An-Nisa’: 3 is not to be taken seriously.
This is a
good example of the way in which many Quranic texts have been read out of
context and misconstrued.
In Surah 4:
An-Nisa’: 3, the Quran is laying down a law which pertains to all marriages to
be contracted in the future and its purpose is to make a man aware of his moral
responsibilities as a husband before he contracts multiple marriages.
When Islam
began, unrestricted polygyny was rampant and there was no moral code to
safeguard the rights of the wives. The Quran recognises that, being human, it
was not possible for men to treat a large number of wives equally but it
enjoins them not to incline towards one wife to the exclusion of the other(s)
who would be left in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.
The
contexts of An-Nisa’:3 and 129 are totally different. While the exhortation in
the latter was applicable to a situation that existed at the time of the
Quranic revelation, the injunction in the former is applicable to all future
times.
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Riffat Hassan is an Islamic scholar and
professor emerita, University of Louisville.
Original Headline: Quran on polygyny
Source: The Dawn, Pakistan
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/the-historical-context-polygyny-permitted/d/123594
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