Polygamy in Islam

In the 1870s, a new movement emerged in Muslim countries, called “Muslim Reformation.”

This was a consequence of the significant economic, political, and social changes that were occurring and continue to occur in Muslim countries. The objective conditions that had developed in these countries gave rise to a new religious ideology that seemingly shook the foundations of orthodox Islam. The emergence of reformism within it was due, in particular, to the necessity of spreading enlightenment, the goals of which could only be achieved within the framework and on the basis of Islam, since for the peoples of the East, Islam is not only a religion but also a system of values that regulates both social and private life.

In the consciousness of Arabs, European expansion was equated with the “eternal struggle” between the Christian West and the Muslim East. The political events of the 19th century, the Russo-Turkish and Italo-Turkish wars, as well as events in the Balkans, only strengthened the Arabs and, in particular, Muslim reformers in this opinion. Attempts at “spiritual colonization” could evoke nothing but the strongest protest. Thus, the French philosopher E. Renan - the author of the once-popular book “The Life of Jesus,” speaking at the Sorbonne in 1883 with a lecture “Islam and Science,” asserted that by nature, Arabs are incapable of sciences, and Islam only hinders the development of culture. Muslim reformers, however, sought to prove that Muslims are not only capable of sciences and progress but also have their own, centuries-old cultural tradition on the basis of which they will be able to create a fundamentally new social organization. “It is important to note that the weakness of the national bourgeoisie, which especially needs faith in the limitless possibilities of man during the period of formation, and the very slow penetration of modern scientific achievements into Egypt did not contribute to the spread of materialistic concepts and atheism... In general, the development of modern Arab thought is difficult to understand without understanding ... the role of Islam and traditions, which, by common consent of Arab and European researchers, were at that time not only a system of dogmas but remained as a norm of social life for Muslims.”

Based on Islam, reformers transformed European socio-political theories and legal norms, substantiated their references to the Quran with the achievements of contemporary European science, and attempted to adapt Islam to the changing economic conditions and the needs of a new class - the bourgeoisie. The starting point for Muslim reformers was the position that the spiritual essence of Muslim life is contained in religion, and that only religion can lead Muslim countries out of a state of decline and ensure their future. One of the aspects of the revival of Arabs that reformers considered was the solution to the women's issue.

Like other religions, Islam not only reflects the surrounding world in a specifically distorted and fantastic form. Arising from the human desire to find in the illusory reflection of the surrounding world solutions to pressing personal problems that have not been resolved in the sphere of social relations, religion, in this case Islam, in turn, influences the individual, regulates their behavior and worldview through its dogmas and prescriptions. One of the areas of behavior regulated by Islam is the sphere of family relations, the relationships between genders, and the moral and ethical norms that define the status, role, and functions of women in society and family.

Some provisions regulating this area of relations are contained in the text of the Quran, others in the Sunnah. The dominant role of the Quran in family and marriage issues is the idealization of the order of private property monogamous family with the allowance for polygamy. Family relations are regulated by Muslim law - Sharia. The institution of family-marital relations in Islam is the most conservative and is the least susceptible to the influence of new ideas. As is known, the unequal status of Muslim women was enshrined in the Quran and later in Sharia.

The idea of revising the provisions of the Quran and Sharia regarding women was first raised by Muslim reformers at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries: Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Salama Musa, Abd ar-Rahman Al-Kawakibi, Tahir al-Haddad, and others.

One of the pioneers of reforming family-legal norms of Sharia was the famous Egyptian enlightener Qasim Amin, whose views later formed the basis for the ideas and concepts of modern Muslim modernists.

Soviet researchers studying the problems of the evolution of modern Islam believed that the bourgeois-reformist ideas existing since the last century to the present day, and modernist tendencies, which became more pronounced only after World War II, manifest historically as continuous, and theoretically as ideologically interconnected processes. The transition from reformation to modernization is evidenced, for example, in the field of dogmatics by justifying the “truthfulness” and “eternity” of Islam with references to modern scientific and technological achievements. In the social sphere, such a transition began with the development of the doctrine of “Islamic socialism” as a specific path of social development.

In the field of morality and law, Muslim modernism is formed as a reaction of the clergy to the process of the gradual displacement of the Sharia system from the legal life of Muslim peoples. Ideas are put forward to improve the moral concepts of Islam, to align them with the moral ideals of modern man, and to create a holistic system of moral education for the younger generation in the spirit of Islam. Representatives of not only religious figures but also other layers of society - public and political figures, writers, journalists, cultural workers, etc., speak from the positions of religious modernism.

Both modernists and their predecessors, reformers regarding the legal status of women in Islam, mainly adhere to one line. Recognizing the oppressed status of Muslim women, they all do not see the cause of this in Islam. Moreover, they believe that in this sense, Islam had a progressive significance, trying to prove that the main reason for the inferior status of Muslim women is the incorrect interpretation of the provisions of Islam by individual theologians and legal scholars and, accordingly, the incorrect application of them in life. Most modern Muslim modernists hold the opinion that the situation of Arab women was extremely difficult before the emergence of Islam. In their opinion, this is precisely why the emergence of a new religious teaching played a positive role in improving the status of Arab women.

Modernists oppose the emancipation of Muslim women, believing that the rights given by Islam are quite sufficient for her. Here is what one of the modern representatives of modernism in Islam, Sayyid al-Afghani, states on this matter: “The Quran and Hadith contain a great many provisions about women and mandates recognizing her rights. This is done to protect women from both age-old oppression and the vicissitudes of the future, as we see today in the societies of some Western countries.”

Modern modernization touches on all aspects of the legal status of women in Islam: issues of marriage and polygamy, divorce - hijab, etc. Modernists speak in the press, on the radio, publish works dedicated to the women's issue in Arab countries. Moreover, they try to find confirmation and explanation for each new social phenomenon in the Quran and Sunnah. Some of them moderately criticize their traditionalist opponents, while others are more radical.

Muslim marriage has its peculiarities. The Quran considers entering into marriage a sacred duty of a Muslim. In “Hidaya” - the main guide of Sharia jurisprudence, developed mainly on the basis of the teachings of Nu'man Abu Hanifa, the founder of one of the four main schools of thought in Islam, it is stated that the word nikah (marriage) denotes a special kind of private contract aimed at legitimizing procreation. Sharia ensures men a dominant position in the family and society. Women are dependent on men and subordinate to them. According to Sharia law, a husband has the right to punish his wife for disobedience. R. Charles rightly noted that “the Muslim institution of marriage does not aim at close proximity between spouses, but rather significantly increases the gap that separates the world of men from the world of women in Islam. Between these two clans, their individual personalities have no other relations except sexual relations and narrow domestic common interests.”

Since the 19th century, as capitalist relations began to emerge and develop in Arab countries, new civil, criminal, and other codes were adopted, which, while narrowing the scope of Muslim law, did not displace it at all. “On the contrary, they themselves are influenced by Sharia (alongside the influence of bourgeois legal concepts) and do not touch upon those spheres of relations that are most thoroughly regulated by Sharia. This primarily concerns marriage-family and inheritance relations, as well as other institutions of the so-called “personal status law,” where Sharia continues to operate not only in an indirect form but also in a direct one.”

Currently, Muslim law operates in one form or another in many countries - from Morocco to Fiji in Oceania. There are between 750 million to 1 billion Muslims in the world, making up a majority or significant portion of the population in 51 states. Some Arab (and not only Arab) countries have official names as Islamic states: the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, etc. In many countries, constitutions declare Sharia as a source of legislation (the UAE - 1971, Syria and Pakistan - 1973, Iran - 1979, etc.).

Family and marriage law under Sharia (in particular, according to Shafi'i and Hanafi schools) provides for the observance of “equality” of men and women in terms of age, social and material status. If we compare the views of modern legislation in some Arab countries on the issue of “equality” between men and women when concluding a marriage, we will find that it corresponds to the generally accepted norms of Sharia. For example, Syrian law (No. 59 of 1953 “On Personal Status” with amendments made by law No. 34 of 1975) refers to customs when qualifying such equality and calls it the “right” of the bride and her guardian (Articles 28, 29), while Jordanian law (No. 61 of 1976 “On Personal Status”) clarifies that when determining equality, it primarily concerns the material status of the husband, allowing him to pay the mahr (bridal price) and support the family (Article 29). Moreover, this “equality” is only considered when concluding the contract, as the subsequent loss of this quality by the man does not affect the validity of the marriage (Article 20 of the Jordanian law, Article 31 of the Syrian law).