No Muslim reading Saleem's article can doubt his sincere intentions. But no Muslim with a wider reading of the Qur'an and Islamic history reading the article can fail to see the rather rushed conclusions as if the whole article has been contrived. It is not my intention to review the article or even respond to it as such. Rather I thought I should sound a note of caution to the readers of Islamica many of whom I would like to believe are young people at cross roads of their lives.
Saleem started rightly with the Qur'an, referring to the famous aya 3 sura 4. But after reading Yusuf Ali's rendering of the Qur'an he rested on his oars and became contented with Yusuf Ali's conclusions, that "This condition is most difficult to fulfill, I understand the recommendation towards monogamy". Saleem ought to have known that Yusuf Ali was offering a translation and not a tafseer and there can be a world of difference from the two. But this "difficult condition" that every body talks about has been explained in aya 129 of the same Sura. Clearly what was demanded was that no one of the wives should be abandoned as if she was 'suspended' as it were. It looks strange that many a writer of an article stops at this aya 3 and makes up his conclusion as if he was coming to the Qur'an not to understand what Allah says but with a mind made up. To arrive at a ruling on any matter based on the Qur'an or Hadith one doesn't just read one translation of a single aya and concludes, that, to say the least, is reckless. There are a host of rules and regulations that have been developed going back to the of the Sahaba. Two of them may be relevant here: 1. That in all the legislative ayat, the Qur'an always gives a general rule then the exception. Two, three and four are clearly the general rule and one the exception. 2. when ever the Qur'an lists commendable or allowable things it always starts with that which is most preferred then followed by the next in order of diminishing preference. If we turn to the Sirah Saleem will discover that a good number of the Sahaba around the Prophet were all polygamous. Even Ali b. Abi Talib was polygamous after Fatima and his failure to do so earlier has nothing to with the so-called "difficult condition". Knowing their unique zeal to please Allah, it is not conceivable that these righteous servants of Allah would have been polygamous if truly monogamy was Islam's preference.
It fascinates me to see Muslims idealizing monogamy, eager to apologize, almost on behalf of God, that He did not quite mean what he said. He must have just meant to say that in conditions of war, ill health, etc. ... so goes the argument, with an amazing list of every conceivable, and often hypothetical, excuses. What Saleem and his young colleagues may not yet know is that while there are individuals who could be monogamous, there is no human society that is truly monogamous. Western society has long conceded that monogamy can only exist if supplemented by chains of mistresses and affairs. We have also seen what celibacy is all about, it is not only about mistresses and affairs but, certainly worse, child abuse, sodomy and who knows what next, as this unholy drama continues to unfold? The west and indeed all human societies have actually been polygamous in all but name. They have been in trouble simply because they only seek to enjoy the benefits without taking the responsibilities that went with it. Islam knows better than to pretend that human society is monogamous. It would rather face the realities and regulate it stringently so that justice and fairness is ensured and society is saved the trauma and embarrassment that has become the hallmark of the west today.
I would have thought that at a time when the nuclear monogamous family of the west has completely collapsed leaving western society bare, Muslims should be able to offer the west some refuge. But if they themselves have fallen into the same trap, as it were, who then saves humanity from all this folly?
I am sure many of our contemporary Muslim women will be outraged with this rather uncomfortable truth. Let me immediately add therefore, this did not in any way affec their equality with men unless of course like their non-Muslim conterparts, they are confusing equality with uniformity. And that they should appreciate the fact that Islam did not say that polygamy is compulsory, no, not even marriage, as such, is compulsory in Islam. What more, marriage is a contract and the contracting parties can make it a condition in their contract to remain monogamous if they so wish. But what Islam would not allow is to obliterate a whole provision simply because someone through association with some western or Hindu cultures wishes to raise a monogamous family.
Usman Bugaje
Leicester
30/11/94
