On the Lion and Cats... Again!

So in my previous post, I might have sounded so biased against polygamy. Polygyny, to be more specific.

But that was not my point. I do acknowledge polygyny in Islam and is in no place to suggest that it does not exist.

Because first, regardless of being mentioned under conditions, it WAS mentioned in the Holy Quraan. And it was mentioned in the hadiths and narrations.

And second, whether we like it or not, let's face this reality: Islam, as we believe in it, was the final heavenly legislation to be revealed for human. So it should be designed to contain the worst case scenario. That is the simplest principle of design that should be taken into consideration of one want to plan some thing sustainable. Allah subhanahu wa taala is the God of the science of design, so that knowledge should be based on his knowledge and not go outside of its realm.

So Islam is not designed for the elite only. Islam is a religion for humanity, including the rich and the poor, the educated and illiterate. Islam is also for all times, for times of distress and for times of luxury.

Therefore, it should have contained certain legislation to contain those low points of the life of Muslim communities. From this logic we can understand and accept the existence of polygyny.

A woman, for example, might find herself responsible for a husband and children that she cannot afford to be their mother and wife efficiently, may be because of a certain sickness or something. Judging by looking at my own self, I can imagine that if I was diagnosed with Cancer, God forbids, and was under chemo therapy, I might suggest to my husband that he gets another wife during my life. Now put aside the fact that judging from the quality of most of the women in our surrounding community -sigh!- it will be a mission impossible, but finding a loving and understanding co-wife that shares us the house hold and has my children used to her and loving her will allow me to die in peace. It would -definitely- be better than having them get attached to their father's girl friend, for example! Or having to deal with accepting the loss of the mother and getting used to the new woman at the same time!

Also, I am thinking of times of war. We have seen that first hand during the Chechen war. The male population went down to less than a half! That left the Chechen community with an overwhelming majority of females. Now due to the pride of the Chechen women, alot of them did not accept to see themselves as co-wives. So they managed to replace their lost husbands and play the role of the woman and the man of the house. Alot of them did well, but they paid the toll from their health and quality of life. Also, the overall population of Chechen people went down, because of the drop down in the number of couples who can re-produce. Due to the nature of the human re-production process, that gap could have been bridged -even if alittle- through some men getting married to more than one wife. But most of them did not even try. I am not saying it was wrong. I am just suggesting that the aftermath of the war could have been made easier through polygyny.

That was just to say that I do appreciate polygyny when it comes in its wise context.

I am only against men using it as an absolute right.

Yes, I am a hard core feminist. But I am a committed Muslim as well.

And I do believe that these two can coexist :-)