Polygamy in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

Polygamy in Islamic Law (view source)

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→‎Islamic Defense of Polygamy: created new section 'the consequences of polygamy' and added entry for 'Polygamy causes Chastity Assurance practices such as FGM'

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 The ratio of births is 105 males to 100 females, so this does not seem to be the case.
+== The Consequences of Polygamy ==
 ===Polygamy often leads to divorce===
 According to Somayya Jabarti of Arab News, Saudi Arabia has the second-highest divorce-rate in the world. Abdullah Al-Fawzan, a professor and sociologist at King Saud University in Riyadh, states that polygamy is responsible for up to 55 percent of divorces. He added that the loss of trust, sincerity, compassion and cooperation were also factors in the failure of marriages.<ref>Somayya Jabarti - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.arabnews.com/node/239330|2=2013-01-01}} Alarming Divorce Rate ‘Must Be Addressed Urgently’] - Arab News, October 24, 2003</ref> The Maldives, an Islamic country with a 100% Muslim population,<ref>The Maldives is the only country after Saudi Arabia that claims to have a 100 percent Muslim population. As per its constitution, only a Muslim can be a citizen of the country. Propagating any faith other than Islam, importing/publicly carrying literature that contradicts Islam or translation into the Dhivehi language of such books and writings, displaying in public any symbols or slogans belonging to any religion other than Islam, or creating interest in such articles are all against the law and are punishable with imprisonment, fines or banishment.</ref> also has the highest divorce rate in the world, with 10.97 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants per year.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-11000/highest-divorce-rate/|2=2013-01-05}} Highest divorce rate] - Guinness World Records, accessed January 5, 2013</ref>
+=== Polygamy causes Chastity Assurance practices such as FGM ===
+Polygamy causes Chastity Assurance practices such as FGM, Veiling, harems and footbinding.
+In polygamous societies it is only the richest and most powerful men who are able to afford to keep multiple wives. However, these high-status polygamous men face a problem guaranteeing the fidelity of their many wives - and the more wives they have the greater the problem becomes. In a monogamous marriage a husband and wife can spend much of their time with one another, and become close to one another, and their sexual and emotional needs are more-or-less proportional. A polygamous man may have two, four, hundred or even a thousand wives, whom he must satisfy emotionally and sexually, and whose desire for motherhood he must also satisfy. If one of his wive's needs are not satisfied, she may be tempted be unfaithful, and this may result in the high-status man rearing a child that is not his own. Which, evolutionary speaking, is a disaster.
+In order to assure themselves of the chastity and fidelity of their many wives, polygamous men have developed a variety of Chastity Assurance practices:
+* '''harems''' - which keep wives locked away, guarded by eunuchs;
+* '''footbinding''' (as once practiced by the Chinese) - which keeps wives from being unfaithful by reducing their mobility and independence;
+* '''chaperoning and gender segregation''' - which hamper and eliminate interactions between the sexes;
+* '''arranged marriages''' - which obviate the dangers that romance and courting poses to a girl's chastity and reputation;
+* '''veiling''' - which makes girls less interesting and identifiable to males;
+* '''<nowiki/>'honour' culture''' - which exacts disproportionate punishments for (perceived or actual) 'un-chastity';
+* '''Female Genital Mutilation''' - which reduces a girl's capacity for sexual pleasure both physically (through the removal of the clitoris and labia) and mentally (through the effects of trauma). Where a girl has been infibulated her chastity is further guaranteed because her vaginal opening is sealed with a covering of skin, the penetration of which is extremely painful and which leads to severe hemorrhaging that is difficult to conceal.
+Marriages to high status men are highly advantageous, both to potential brides, but also to their families, who will benefit from having a high status male as a relative. The urge for women to marry into higher strata of society is called ''hypergyny''. It is universal to all societies, but is much more intense in polygamous societies. This is probably because in monogamous societies, once a high-status man marries he is no longer available, whereas in polygamous societies a married high-status man remains available.
+In order for a family to marry a daughter to a high status man, the family must  persuade him that their daughter is 'pure', chaste and will be faithful to him. They demonstrate this by having her adopt the Chastity Assurance practices expected by that man, whether itt be FGM, or a combination of the other practices in the above list.
+The intensely Hypergynous nature of polygamous societies means that the marriage practices of high-status polygamous men cascade down through the lower ranks of society, and are adopted by all families. Only the daughters of the poorest, who can not afford to engage in such practices, are spared. However, the price they pay is that they, and their families will be stigmatised as 'impure' and 'contaminating', and will have the status of 'untouchables' and suffer from intense discrimination and persecution. The avoidance of stigma becomes an added incentive for families to conform to Chastity Assurance practices.
 ==External Links==