BBC: Jemima Khan investigates the practice of polygamy in the UK’s Muslim community.
For divorced Muslim women, finding a new spouse isn’t always easy. But would being a part-time wife be the solution?
Khan attends a Muslim matchmaking event to talk to divorced and widowed women about whether they would contemplate becoming a co-wife. She finds a number of women who are actively considering it.
Polygamy in the UK is mostly practiced by Muslims, though not exclusively. Although only one marriage can be officially registered under British law, the Quran permits men to take four wives. But some Muslims believe that this permission needs to be interpreted in the context of 21st century Britain, where women enjoy equality with men and should not be subject to religious laws which seem to contradict their rights.
In this programme, Jemima Khan speaks to women who have chosen to become second wives as well as women who have had polygamy imposed upon them without their consent or, sometimes, even their knowledge.
We hear from a family barrister and a representative of the Sharia Council. Baroness Caroline Cox explains why she believes that practices such as polygamy bring suffering to women and must be prevented from happening; but Islamic law consultant, Khola Hasan, wants the English legal system to recognise the existence of polygamy (though she does not wish the law to be changed to accommodate the practice.)
Categories: Awareness, Belief, Equal Rights, Europe
Not recognizing the practice means not giving equal rights to the ‘additional wives’. From the Human Rights point of view such a discrimination should be avoided. (It used to be a big disadvantage for children of such marriages also, but now, with nearly 50% of children born in ‘non-traditional partnerships’ the discrimination of children is less than probably before. (in Western society).
Polygamy is the best solution to end prostitution and teenage pregnancies and abortions. Every male must be allowed to have at least four wives to eradicate immoral behaviour in the society. A former Dutch MP has admitted that recognizing polygamy in law is the next logical step after redefining marriage to include same-sex couples. Speaking to the French online magazine, Yagg, Boris Dittrich said there was now a movement in the Netherlands to introduce multi-partner marriages. The Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, has expressed fears that politicians would redefine marriage to include “multiple partners” after same-sex ‘marriages’ were introduced in the state in 2011.
The youth wing of the Finnish Green Party also proposed the legalisation of polygamy in the country in July 2011, whilst the Toronto District School Board in Canada came under fire after releasing a poster in schools promoting polygamous marriages.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk