Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
8. Polygamy and Islam
~ 181 ~
One point greatly in need of clarification is the fact
that in the matter of marrying more than one
woman, the initiative does not lie solely with any
individual man. There is always the condition — an
inescapable one — that whatever the society, the
women should outnumber the men. Suppose the
earth were inhabited by one billion people -out of
which 500 million were men and 500 million were
women. It would not then be possible in such a
situation for a man to have more than one wife. A
second, third or fourth wife would be obtained only
by force. But in Islam, a forced marriage is not
considered lawful. According to the
shari’ah
the
willingness of the bride-to-be is a compulsory
condition.
Looked at from a practical angle, the above
commandment of the Qur’an can be complied with
only if that particular situation exists in society
which existed in Medina after the Battle of Uhud
— that is, there is a disproportion in the ratio of
men and women. In the absence of such a
situation, this commandment of the Qur’an would
be inapplicable. But studies of human society and
its history have shown that the situation in ancient
