Why a Woman can't marry more than one Husband?

[KhanHaripur]

Why a Woman can't marry more than one Husband?
In a delightful report about how Imam Abu Hanifa received his name (his original name was Numan bin Thabit bin Zutabin Mah), an account of why the wife is forbidden to take more than one husband is recounted. 'Abu Hanifa' is an unusual name because it means 'the father of Hanifah', and Hanifah was his daughter. It was not the custom in those days to do this. Normally, the name would be 'the father of the name of a son.' How this came about is quite edifying.One day Imam Abu Hanifa was asked a question that, for the first time in his illustrious career, he was unable to answer. The question was, " Why were women forbidden to marry more than one husband at a time? "To make a long story short, Abu Hanifa's daughter said that she knew the answer and would solve this question if her father would make a promise to her that if she succeeded in solving this problem, he would then assureher a place in history. Abu Hanifa agreed.So she gathered a group of women together and gave each of them a cup. Then she brought in a large bowl of milk and asked each of them to dip their cups in the milk andto fill their cups. They did so. She then asked them to pour back the milk into the bowl. They did this too. She then asked them to re-fill their cups taking back only their own milk that they had poured into the bowl.This, obviously, was impossible to do. Hanifahhad clearly demonstrated the kind of predicament that would be created if a woman had several husbands. With more than one husband, if she were to become pregnant, she would have exceptional difficulties determining who the actual father was? Identifying parentage and lineage would then be insurmountable for the offspring. Imam Abu Hanifa was so pleased with her answer that he took the name 'Abu Hanifa', 'the father of Hanifah', so his daughter did indeed earn a place in history

 

[Aadmi]

but now adays this can be determine by DNA test, is this argument still valid?

 

[Aamir raja]

I heard dr zakir naik detail speach on this topic I think it was more logical

 

[ThoughtFelon]

No one wonders why one woman can't marry several men, but rather the question is why is it allowed for one man to marry several women.

Marriage is a bond between a man and woman not man and women.

 

[crowbar]

During zulfiqar Ali Bhutto prime ministership some lady asked this question in the national assembly and nobody could answer it.Bhutto requested Mufi Mehmud to answer it. Mufti Mehmuf asked that lady that i will bear your sins ,you can marry 4 man togather but by the end of year you have to give hope to all 4 of your husbands that they will have a child each from you.Can you do that !The lady responded with nagative.Mufti Mehmud advised her not to mess up with Allah's made laws ,he is the creator and he knows better then we do.

 

[crowbar]

No one wonders why one woman can't marry several men, but rather the question is why is it allowed for one man to marry several women.

Marriage is a bond between a man and woman not man and women.

In canada where you live ,women has out numberred the male population. There are countries where women has outnumbered the male population by a very large number.In christian societies they are allowed just one wife. what should the outnumbered women do for having a married life after all they do want living with their husband and children. No religion and majority of cultures donot permits women to keep a boy friend and have children from them. What do you suggest for such women?

 

[MileStone]

[h=3]Polyandry[/h][h=4]Q: If a man is allowed to have more than one wife why does Islam prohibit a woman from having more than one husband? [/h]Answer: A lot of people, including some Muslims, question the logic of allowing Muslim men to have more than one spouse while denying the same ‘right’ to women.


Let me first state emphatically, that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different capabilities and different responsibilities. Men and women are different, physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are different. [h=3]The following points enumerate the reasons why polyandry is prohibited in Islam:[/h]1. If a man marries more than one wife, the parents of the children born of such marriages can easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can easily be identified. In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only the mother of the children born of such marriages will be identified and not the father. Islam gives tremendous importance to the identification of both parents, mother and father. Psychologists tell us that children who do not know their parents, especially their father undergo severe mental trauma and disturbances. Often they have an unhappy childhood. It is for this reason that the children of prostitutes do not have a healthy childhood. If a child born of such wedlock is admitted in school, and when the mother is asked the name of the father, she would have to give two or more names! I am aware that recent advances in science have made it possible for both the mother and father to be identified with the help of genetic testing. Thus this point was applicable for the past, and may not be applicable for the present.

2. Man is more polygamous by nature as compared to a woman.

3. Biologically, it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband despite having several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several husbands, will not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife.

4. A woman who has more than one husband will have several sexual partners at the same time and has a high chance of acquiring venereal or sexually transmitted diseases which can also be transmitted back to her husband even if all of them have no extra-marital sex. This is less likely in a man having more than one sexual partner, and none of them having extra-marital sex.

The above reasons are those that one can easily identify. There are probably many more reasons why Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom, has prohibited polyandry.

Source: http://www.islamicvoice.com/september.98/zakir.htm

 

[MileStone]

Polygamy

Q. Why is a man allowed to marry more than one wife in Islam? Or why is polygamy allowed in Islam?
Answer: 1. Definition of Polygamy

Polygamy means a system of marriage whereby one person has more than one spouse. Polygamy can be of two types. One is polygyny where a man marries more than one woman, and the other is polyandry, where a woman marries more than one man. In Islam, limited polygyny is permitted and polyandry is completely prohibited. Now coming to the original question, why is a man allowed to have more than one wife?

2. Qur’an is the only religious scripture in the world that says “marry only one”

Qur’an is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the phrase ‘marry only one’. There is no other religious book that instructs men to have only one wife. In none of the religious scriptures like the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta or the Bible does one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures one can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Many Hindu religious personalities, according to their scriptures, had multiple wives. King Dashrat, the father of Rama, had more than one wife. Krishna had several wives.

In earlier times, Christian men were permitted as many wives as they wished, since the Bible puts no restriction on the number of wives. It was only a couple of centuries ago that the Church restricted the number of wives to one.

Polygyny is permitted in Judaism. According to Talmudic law, Abraham had 2 wives, and Solomon had hundreds of wives. The practice of polygyny continued till Rabbi Gershom ben Yehudah. (960 A.D to 1030 A.D) issued an edict against it. The Jewish Sephardic communities living in Muslim countries continued the practice till as late as 1950, when an Act of the chief Rabbinate of Israel extended the ban on marrying more than one wife.

3. Hindus are more polygamous than Muslims

The report of the ‘Committee of The Status of Woman in Islam’, published in 1975 mentions on page numbers 66,67 that the percentage of polygamous marriages between the year 1951 -1961 was 5.06 among the Hindus and only 4.31 among the Muslims. According to Indian law only Muslim men are permitted to have more than one wife. It is illegal for any non-Muslim in India to have more than one wife. Despite it being illegal, Hindus have more multiple wives as compared to the Muslim. One can imagine what would have been the percentage of polygamous marriages among the Hindus if the Indian government had made it legal for them. Earlier, there was no restriction even on Hindu men with respect to the number of wives allowed. It was only in 1954, when the Hindu Marriage Act was passed that it became illegal for a Hindu to have more than one wife. At present it is the Indian Law that restricts a Hindu man from having more than one wife and not the Hindu scriptures.

Let us now analyse why Islam allows a man to have more than one wife.

4. Qur’an permits limited polygyny

As I mentioned earlier, Qur’an is the only religious book on the face of the earth that says ‘marry only one’. The context of this phrase is the following verse from Surah Nisa of the Glorious Qur’an: ‘Marry woman of your choice in twos’ threes’ or fours’ but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly, (with them), then only one’ [Al-Qur’an 4:3]

Before the Qur’an was revealed, there was no upper limit for polygyny and many men had scores of wives, some even hundreds. Islam put an upper limit of four wives. Islam gives a man permission to marry two, three or four women, only on the condition that he deals with them justly. In the same chapter i.e. Surah Nisa verse 129 says: ‘It is very difficult to be just and fair between women’. [Al-Qur’an (4:129)]

Therefore polygyny is not a rule but an exception. Many people are under the misconception that it is compulsory for a Muslim man to marry more than one wife.

Broadly, Islam has five categories of Do’s and Dont’s.
(i) ‘Farz’ i.e compulsory
(ii) ‘Mustahab’ i.e recommended or encouraged
(iii) ‘Mubah’ i.e permissible
(iv) ‘Makruh’ i.e ‘not recommended’ or discouraged
(v) ‘Haram’ i.e prohibited or forbidden

Polygyny falls in the middle category of things that are permissible. It cannot be said that a Muslim who has two, three or four wives is a better Muslim as compared to a Muslim who has only one wife.

5. Average life span of females is more than that of males

By nature males and females are born in approximately the same ratio. During paediatric age however, in childhood itself a female child has more immunity than a male child. A female child can fight the germs and diseases better than the male child. For this reason, there are more deaths among males as compared to the females during paediatric age.

During wars, there are more men killed as compared to women. More men die due to accidents and diseases than women. The average life span of females is more than that of males, and at any given time one finds more widows in the world than widowers.

6. India has more male population than female due to female foeticide and infanticide.

India is one of the few countries, along with the other neighbouring countries, in which the female population is less than the male population. The reason lies in the high rate of female infanticide in India, and the fact that more than one million female foetuses are aborted every year in this country, after they are identified as females. If this evil practice is stopped, then India too will have more females as compared to males.

7. World female population is more than male population

In the USA, women outnumber men by 7.8 million. New York alone has one million more females as compared to the number of males, and of the male population of New York one-third are gays i.e sodomites. The USA as a whole has more than twenty-five million gays. This means that these people do not wish to marry women. Great Britain has four million more females as compared to males. Germany has five million more females as compared to males. Russia has nine million more females than males. God alone knows how many million more females there are in the whole world as compared to males.

8. Restricting each and every man to have only one wife is not practical

Even if every man got married to one woman, there would still be more than thirty million more females in USA who would not be able to get husbands (considering that America has twenty five million gays). There would be more than four million females in Great Britain 5 million females in Germany and nine million females in Russia alone who would not be able to find a husband.

Suppose my sister happens to be one of the unmarried women living in USA, or suppose your sister happens to be one of the unmarried women in USA. The only two options remaining for her are that she either marries a man who already has a wife or becomes public property. There is no other option. I have posed this question to hundreds of non-Muslims and all opted for the first. However a few smart people before accepting, said they would prefer their sisters to remain virgins. Biologically, it is not possible for an average man or a woman to remain celibate throughout life. It may be possible in exceptional cases of one in ten thousand. In the vast majority, the person either gets married or performs illicit sex or indulges in other sexual perversions. Sex hormones are released in the adult body every day. That is the reason why Islam has prohibited monasticism.

In Western society it is common for a man to have mistresses and/or multiple extra-marital affairs, in which case, the woman leads a disgraceful, unprotected life. The same society, however, cannot accept a man having more than one wife, in which women retain their honourable, dignified position in society and lead a protected life.

Thus the only two options before a woman who cannot find a husband is to marry a married man or to become public property. Islam prefers giving women the honourable position by permitting the first option and disallowing the second.

There are several other reasons, why Islam has permitted limited polygyny, but it is mainly to protect the modesty of women.

Source: http://www.islamicvoice.com/september.98/zakir.htm

 

[seekers]

Then AIDS would be common like Cold.

 

[EniGma90]

Baat ye kay ager aurat kay Dono Husbands eik hi waqt per apna "haq" mangne lagey to kia hoga ;)

Pogo diakhen ager samjh nahi aya to :P

 

[ThoughtFelon]

In canada where you live ,women has out numberred the male population. There are countries where women has outnumbered the male population by a very large number.In christian societies they are allowed just one wife. what should the outnumbered women do for having a married life after all they do want living with their husband and children. No religion and majority of cultures donot permits women to keep a boy friend and have children from them. What do you suggest for such women?

Oh so we "men" are doing a huge favor to women by practising polygamy!

This is ridiculous, do all women in the muslim world get married? does every muslim woman give birth? This whole notion of women being a burden on a society is ridiculous and obscene.

 

[Ali-NZ]

but now adays this can be determine by DNA test, is this argument still valid?

Let us all marry ur wife n find out later by DNA test about fatherhood of the child born......agreed?
If not agreed then stop giving stupid reasons when some thing is made a law by Allah n his Rasool PBUH we have no reasons to give silly comments.

 

[saud491]

What is the source of this story? Is this story authentic (i.e. receiving name Abu Hanifa)?

 

[black eagle]

for muslims it is plain and simple that it is forbidden in islam for women to have more than 1 husband at a time. no arguments or reasoning for or against it.

 

[iceburg]

That argument of Imam's daughter is no more valid.

The real reason is only but very important 'social value' and 'tradition'.