Woman Between Islam and Western Society
7. Polygamy and Islam
~ 389 ~
As a result, women far outnumbered men at the
end of the hostilities. Permissiveness then became
the order of the day, to the extent that boards with
such inscriptions as “Wanted: A Guest for the
Evening” could be seen outside the homes of
husbandless women. This state of affairs persisted
in western countries in various forms, even long
after the war, and is now largely prevalent because
of industrial and mechanical accidents.
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 unsavory 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.
