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From: jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Qur'an on polygamy
Message-ID: <1990Nov23.161205.6001@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 23 Nov 90 16:12:05 GMT
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danazzi@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel Azzi) writes on Soc.culture.arabic:

>SX43@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK writes:
>
>
>> As far as monogamy is concerned, four wives are a maximum and not
>>a standard..
>
>The Kor'an says "you may marry four provided you treat them equally and you will
>NOT treat them equally".
>

No the Qur'an does not say the above. The Qur'an says:
	"...marry women of your choice, two, three, or four; but if
you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then
(marry) only one..." (4:3)
	"And you will not be able to do justice among (your) wives,
however much you may wish to. But do not turn away (from one of them)
altogether..." (4:129)

>A simple logical analysis of that statement would reveal that you can only
>marry one woman.  As to why the statement was phrased in that manner, there
>are many theories.
>

Analysis of verse 4:3 shows that one can marry upto four women, as
long as one satisfies the condition of being "able to deal justly"
with each of them. If the condition is not satisfied, then one should
stick to one wife.
	What has confused people is the verse 4:129. One group of
people (which includes Gamal Badawi) contend that this verse is meant
to discourage plural marriages, and had not some special cases
existed, polygamy would not have been allowed at all. 
	I tend to agree with the alternative interpretation:
Al-Qaradawi :
		"The equal treatment mentioned here pertains to the
	*rights* of the wives, not to the love the husband feels
	toward them, for equality in the division of love is beyond
	human capacity and any imbalance in this regard is forgiven by
	Allah Ta'ala.."
Maududi : (xlation by Muhammad Akbar)
		"Allah has made it clear that the husband cannot
	literally keep equality between wives because they themselves
	cannot be equal in all respects. It is too much to demand from
	a husband that he should mete out equal treatment to a
  	beautiful wife and to an ugly wife, to a young wife and to an
	old wife, to a healthy wife and to an invalid wife and to a
	good natured wife and to an ill-natured wife. These and like
	things naturally make a husband more inclined towards one wife
	than towards the other. In such cases, the Islamic Law does
	not demand equal treatment between them in affection and love.
	What it does demand is that the wife should not be neglected
	as to be practically reduced to the position of the woman who
	has no husband at all. If the husband does not divorce her for
	any reason or at her own request, she should at least be
	treated as a wife. It is true that under such circumstances
	the husband is naturally more inclined towards a favourite
	wife, but he should not, so to say, keep the other in such a
	state of suspense as if she were not his wife.
		From this verse some people wrongly conclude that,
	though the Qur'an allows more than one wife, it practically
	cancels this permission by asserting, "...it is not possible
	for you to be perfectly equitable in your treatment with all
	your wives..." They forgot that this is only a part of the
	whole instruction and the Qur'an does not stop at this but
	adds, "...do not lean towards one wife..." As this Commandment
	takes into consideration the existance of more than one wife
	allowed by the Qur'an, it leaves no loophole of escape for the
	Westernised people from the fact that Islam does allow
	polygamy under certain conditions."
NB:
   In Maududi's "The Meaning of the Qur'an" the whole of verse 129 is
   translated as follows:
			 "It is not within your power to be perfectly
	equitable in your treatment with all your wives, even if you
	wish to be so; therefore,(in order to satisfy the dictates of
	Divine Law) do not lean wholly towards one wife so as to leave
	the other in a state of suspense. If you behave righteously
	and fear Allah, you will find Allah Forgiving and
	Compassionate."	(4:129)

>
>Daniel

Jemshed Nawaz