Polygamy and Islam
Unlawful Polygamy
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UNLAWFUL POLYGAMY
People who would outlaw polygamy have to pay
the price. That is, they are forced to tolerate men
and women having illicit relations, which is surely a
much more unsavoury state of affairs. Failure to
control a natural process whereby the male
population dwindles, leaving “surplus” women,
coupled with the outlawing of polygamy, has given
rise to the evil of the “mistress” (defined by
Webster’s Dictionary as “a woman who has sexual
intercourse with and, often, is supported by a man
for a more or less extended period of time without
being married to him; paramour”). This, in effect,
sets up a system of illegal polygamy.
The system of keeping a mistress is prevalent in all
those countries, including India, where there are
legal constraints on polygamy or where polygamy
is looked down upon socially. In such a situation,
the real problem is not whether or not to adopt
polygamy. The real problem is whether or not to
legalize its adoption. The problem of surplus
women in society can be solved only by polygamy,
whether we choose to consider it legal or not.
