Woman Between Islam and Western Society
7. Polygamy and Islam
~ 381 ~
Medina was not one which existed only at a
particular point in time. It is a situation which had
almost always been prevalent throughout the entire
world. That situation of emergency is, in fact, the
general situation of mankind. This commandment
is yet another proof of God’s omniscience. His
commandment,
seemingly
elicited
by
an
emergency, became an eternal commandment for
the whole of our world.
THE INEQUALITY IN NUMBERS
Records show that male and female births are
almost equal in number. But a study of mortality
shows that the rate is higher for men than for
women. This disparity is in evidence from early
childhood to extreme old age. According to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica:
“In general, the risk of
death at any given age is less for females than for
males.”
2
The proportionately higher numbers of women in
society can be traced to a variety of causes. For
instance, when war breaks out, the majority of
the casualties are men. In the First World War
(1914-18) about 8 million soldiers were killed.
