POLYGYNY. The practice of one man simultaneously having several wives is a controversial issue in modern Islamic societies. Before the advent of Islam polygyny was practiced in many societies of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean; some observers have attributed this pattern to the predominance of patriarchal systems in the region, but it should be noted that elsewhere in the world, polygyny may occur in non-patriarchal societies. This traditional practice continued under Islam, where it is supported by the authority of the Qur’an (4-3, 24, 25) and sunnah.
The religious justification for polygyny is found by some in the marriages of the prophet Muhammad. He is said to have had a strictly monogamous relationship with his first wife, Khadijah, until her death in 619 CE. He subsequently married two women, Sawda’ and `A’ishah, and later took Hafsah and Umm Habibah as his `aqdi (concubines) ShN tradition also offers the multiple marriages of certain imams in support of polygyny.
Polygyny has historically been practiced by both Sunni and Shi’ 1 Muslims, with certain differences, primarily in the number of secondary wives permitted. In the Sunni tradition the number of wives is restricted to four, but the Shi’i tradition does not limit the number. Even among Sunnis, rulers and other wealthy men often kept much larger harems.
Many modern Islamic nations have either outlawed or regulated polygyny; such laws were promulgated in Turkey (1917), Egypt and Sudan (1920, 1929), India (1939) Jordan (1950, Syria (1953), Tunisia (1956), Morocco (1958), Iraq (1959), Pakistan (1961), Iran (1967, 1975), and South Yemen (1974) (see Coulson and Hinchcliffe, 1978). In Iran, for example, modernizing legislation in 1967 attempted to create legal obstacles to men’s unilateral exercise of the privileges of multiple marriage and of terminating marriages at will. The more conservative 1975 Family Protection Act provided that a man who wished to take a second wife must seek the permission of the court; furthermore, his first wife must either consent or be proven unwilling or unable to fulfill her conjugal responsibilities because of illness, imprisonment, or infertility. With the success of the Islamic Revolution, however, the 1975 act was repealed and the rules of the shari `ah reinstated.
Beyond ordinary marriage, another form of polygyny exists in some Islamic societies in the form of mut`ah, a temporary relationship between a man and a woman based on mutual consent and certain contractual obligations. A form of concubinage, mut `ah requires exclusivity on the part of the woman for the duration of the contract and two months thereafter; the man provides her with financial support and a stipulated payment at the termination of the contract. Mut `ah has been the subject of ongoing legal and religious controversy in Iran: during the modernizing period attempts were made to ban it, but under the present regime it is not only permitted but actively promoted by the government.
[See also Family; Family Law; Marriage and Divorce; Mut’ah; Sexuality; and Women and Islam, article on Role and Status of Women.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coulson, Noel J., and Doreen Hinchcliffe. “Women and Law Reform in Contemporary Islam.” In Women in the Muslim World, edited by Lois Beck and Nikki R. Keddie, pp. 37-51. Cambridge, 1978. Haeri, Shahla. “The Institution of Mut’a Marriage in Iran: A Formal and Historical Perspective.” In Women and Revolution in Iran, edited by Guity Nashat, pp. 231-252. Boulder, 1983.
Kusha, Hamid R. “Minority Status of Women in Islam: A Debate between Traditional and Modern Islam.” Journal Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs i1 (1990): 58-72.
Matindaftari, Maryam. “Piramun-i aymnamah-yi ijra-yi mubarazah ba `badhijabi.’ ” AZADI 9 (Spring 1989): 30-43.
Mutahhari, Murtaza. Nizam-i huquq-i zan dar Islam. Tehran, 1986. Vatandoust, Gholam-Reza. “The Status of Iranian Women during the Pahlavi Regime.” In Women and the Family in Iran, edited by Asghar Fathi, pp. 107-130. Leiden, 1985.
HAMID R. Kusha