Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
8. Polygamy and Islam
~ 194 ~
By following the principle of monogamy, hundreds
of thousands of women fail to find husbands for
themselves and are thus denied an honorable place
in society. Monogamy as an absolute principle may
seem pleasing to some, but events show that this is
not fully practicable in the world of today. The
choice for us, therefore, is not between monogamy
and polygamy, but rather between the lawful
polygamy of Islam and the illicit polygamy of non-
Islamic peoples. The latter system leaves “surplus”
women to lead lives of sexual anarchy and social
destruction. The former, on the other hand, permits
them to opt on their own free will for marriage with
anyone who can give fair treatment to more than
one wife.
