God Arises
Religion and Society
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a crime to wrest someone’s honour from him by
force. Conversely, just as one person’s property can
be legally transferred to another provided both
parties agree to the transaction, so when both
parties agree to commit adultery, society sees
nothing wrong in this. In fact, in cases of mutual
consent, the law actually takes the side of the
adulteress, and if a third party attempts to
intervene, it is he who is regarded as the criminal.
Islam has solved this problem by sanctioning
polygamy, a practice which has been severely
criticized by modern civilization as uncivilized. But
experience has shown that this Islamic principle is
in conformity with human nature. After all, if the
doors of legalized polygamy were closed, it would
merely open the floodgates of illegal prostitution.
The U.N.O. Demographic Report of 1959, shows
that the modern world is producing more children
out of wedlock than ever before, the illegitimacy
rate in Western countries being as high as 60%. In
Panama, for example, three children out of four are
born without the parents having had either a civil
or a religious ceremony. Latin America, with an
