Polygamy According To Shari'ah
Part 2 of an ongoing series on polygamy and Islam
A man is allowed up to four wives.
He does not need the permission of previous wives to enter into a new marriage.
He should treat them all equally, and should rotate his nights among them so that each gets the same amount of time.
Each wife has the right to food, clothing, shelter, and maintenance, and this should be the same for each wife. Each should be given her own separate house or a separate apartment for her and her children to live in, so as to minimize conflict and jealousy.
Admittedly, the Qur'an does mention that treating all wives equally is not possible, but it is up to the husband to decide if he is treating his wives equally -- he has full authority over his family. If one or more of the wives complains, he should take that into account, but there is no court that will order him to treat them better, although the wife or wives may get male family members to talk to the husband on her behalf.
He should not treat the children of one wife better than those of another wife.
Concubines (female slaves) are not considered to be wives, and they do not count towards the four-wife limit (for example, the hundreds of concubines of the Turkish sultan). A man may have as many as he wants, and they have no rights over him other than to be minimally fed, clothed, and sheltered. The children of a concubine are considered to be as legitimate as those from a legal wife, and at the death of her master an umm walad, a slave who has borne her master a child, becomes free.
Monday, February 24, 2003
What Would Reform Islam Look Like?
Based on the model of Reform Judaism, I would expect the following:
* Abandonment of Shari'ah, or at least complete and total re-interpretation, with the added caveat that much of it is symbolic, and what really matters is the thought behind it
* Prayers in any language, not just Arabic, and wider use of translations of the Qur'an (no more memorization of Qur'an in Arabic for non-Arabic speakers)
* Separation of religion and state
* More openness to non-Muslims, their beliefs and their ways of life (no more "Don't do it because the Jews/Christians/unbelievers do it")
* More private and emotional, rather than legalistic
* Recognition that, although Muhammad and his companions were "the best of Muslims," the world has changed and their ways of doing things may not be appropriate to this day and age
* Complete equality for women, no more separation of men and women, same rights as men in all aspects of life
Now, would this be Islam? That is what I ask myself!
What is Islam, anyway? Some Muslims insist that certain Muslim countries with rather barbaric practices "are not practicing true Islam." Well, what is True Islam? And who gets to define it? The 'ulama? The sheikh of Al-Azhar University in Cairo? The Ayatollah (for Shi'ites)? The mass of scholarly opinion over the centuries? Muslims themselves? Which ones? The ones that make the most noise? The ones that called for Salman Rushdie's head on a platter for apostasizing from Islam? Islamic Studies professors, most of whom aren't even Muslim? Who?
Based on the model of Reform Judaism, I would expect the following:
* Abandonment of Shari'ah, or at least complete and total re-interpretation, with the added caveat that much of it is symbolic, and what really matters is the thought behind it
* Prayers in any language, not just Arabic, and wider use of translations of the Qur'an (no more memorization of Qur'an in Arabic for non-Arabic speakers)
* Separation of religion and state
* More openness to non-Muslims, their beliefs and their ways of life (no more "Don't do it because the Jews/Christians/unbelievers do it")
* More private and emotional, rather than legalistic
* Recognition that, although Muhammad and his companions were "the best of Muslims," the world has changed and their ways of doing things may not be appropriate to this day and age
* Complete equality for women, no more separation of men and women, same rights as men in all aspects of life
Now, would this be Islam? That is what I ask myself!
What is Islam, anyway? Some Muslims insist that certain Muslim countries with rather barbaric practices "are not practicing true Islam." Well, what is True Islam? And who gets to define it? The 'ulama? The sheikh of Al-Azhar University in Cairo? The Ayatollah (for Shi'ites)? The mass of scholarly opinion over the centuries? Muslims themselves? Which ones? The ones that make the most noise? The ones that called for Salman Rushdie's head on a platter for apostasizing from Islam? Islamic Studies professors, most of whom aren't even Muslim? Who?