POLYGAMY AND ISLAM

8. Polygamy and Islam ~ 181 ~ One point greatly in need of clarification is the fact that in the matter of marrying more than one woman, the initiative does not lie solely with any individual man. There is always the condition — an inescapable one — that whatever the society, the women should outnumber the men. Suppose the earth were inhabited by one billion people -out of which 500 million were men and 500 million were women. It would not then be possible in such a situation for a man to have more than one wife. A second, third or fourth wife would be obtained only by force. But in Islam, a forced marriage is not considered lawful. According to the shari’ah the willingness of the bride-to-be is a compulsory condition. Looked at from a practical angle, the above commandment of the Qur’an can be complied with only if that particular situation exists in society which existed in Medina after the Battle of Uhud — that is, there is a disproportion in the ratio of men and women. In the absence of such a situation, this commandment of the Qur’an would be inapplicable. But studies of human society and its history have shown that the situation in ancient