Islamic Marriage System 1

Polygamy: The Islamic Marriage System

Ray Hernandez

HST 103-51

December 20th, 2010

Professor: Caldwell
Islamic Marriage System 2

Polygamy: The Islamic Marriage System

In the book Polygamy in Islam, Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, and Jameelah

Jones (2005) set out to demonstrate to Muslims and Non-Muslims, the Islamic Marriage

System as it was passed down from Allah to Prophet Mohamed.

Critics of this book claim that is the only book of its kind for the English language

in the west. Polygamy in Islam, sheds a light on the practice of this ancient system of

marriage that seems to be still alive, well, and thriving in today’s society; however

Philips and Jones (2005) go on further to making a persuasive argument on how the

adoption of the Islamic Marriage System as the enforceable standard, would be the best

suited for our times than its counterpart monogamy.

Philips and Jones (2005) address social issues affecting our society today and try

to make the link on how the Islamic Marriage System is the answer to these issues. Some

of the social issues addressed in the book are: The increasing number of failed marriages,

the greater number of woman inhabiting the world in relation to men, the rise in

illegitimate children’s birth due to sex outside the marriage, just to name a few.

Islam puts a major emphasis on marriage, making it half their religion “The

prophet illustrated the importance of marriage by saying, when a servant of Allah

marries, he has completed half of his religious obligations and he must fear Allah in order
Islamic Marriage System 3

to complete the other half” (Philips, & Jones, 2005, p. 11). By regarding marriage in

such a high status within the religion suggests that the family is a very important part of a

Muslim’s lifestyle.

The Islamic Marriage System according to the book consists in having the option

of marrying up to four wives, so long as the man is able to afford to do so, and instead of

making love the dominant factor to get married it bases marriage in the love and worship

of Allah. Love for the partner becomes second nature and is something that is acquire

over a period of time after the marriage.

Polygamy as it is practiced in Islam is portrayed by the book as being for

purposes to fulfill the physical and emotional needs of a women, and it seems to base

such notion in the fact that women outnumber man, for this Philips and Jones (2005)

Explain:

Women outnumber man at birth and live longer than man do. American

women today can expect to be 77.9 years old and man can expect to live 70.3

according to the Center for Health Statistics. Couple that with the high incidence

of violent crime among males, their war deaths, and the rise in the rate of

homosexuality and it becomes obvious that there are not enough men for each

woman to have one. (p. 38)

The reasons for marriage in Islam vary, for example a woman may marry for her

wealth, lineage, beauty, or religion. Man may for the same reasons as well as marry for
Islamic Marriage System 4

compassionate issues such as a divorced woman with children to care for her and her

children, or a widow. In the case of the divorcee it’s done after three months of their

divorce date. Islam deems the most pious amongst man and woman in the religion as the

best qualified to get married to as he is said to be the one that best pleases Allah.

Time division amongst the multiple wives becomes a major issue in the Islamic

Marriage System as all wives must be allotted the same amount of time with the husband.

All wives must be treated fairly in choosing the allotment that pertains to each one. Even

though there is no right or wrong system to do this; However Muslims usually revert

back to the Sunnah (the lifestyle of prophet Mohamed), as the source of guidance. In this

matter the Sunnah becomes the ruling concept to address this and Philips and Jones,

(2005) say in the book:

The husband writes numbers on slips of papers indicating the order of

the nights; He must then shake the slips of paper within the container and then

hand the slips of papers to the individual wives as he picks them from the

container (p. 11).

As man becomes more and more scarce, as portrayed by the book, be it because

of man’s life expectancy being less than that of a woman, casualties of urban warfare

a.k.a the war on drugs, the fact that some man seem to elect other man instead of women

as partners or just plain and simple that there is women than man in our world. The
Islamic Marriage System 5

argument can be made that polygamy could become more socially acceptable in the west,

as the world begins to enter more in depth in to the information age. .

For monogamy to survive in the information age it will take much heated debate

from both sides, as the average Joes all over the world have been getting their

information from primary sources, and are starting to question the integrity and validity

of the different social formations we live under. Such is the case of the major scandals

that we have been seeing in the media lately, like the case of Wikileaks.org which is

attempting to create a more open government system by leaking classified information

about the different governments of the world for all the average Joes to see, read and

assess, which in turn arms them with the ability to come to their own conclusions.

Just like Wikileaks.org seems to have a burning desire to disseminate

information, the authors of the book Polygamy in Islam, Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips,

and Jameelah Jones (2005) seem to want to educate the world about the Islamic Marriage

System, and furthermore persuade the reader by making a very educated argument that

there are inescapable flaws within the enforced monogamist marriage system particularly

in the western world, which Philips and Jones (2005) seem to be in consensus:

The position of women in the west today may appear progressive from

the standpoint of voting rights, property rights, and educational opportunities,

but from the standpoint of the family their position has degenerated alarmingly.

The expulsion of women from their natural roles within the family is part of the
Islamic Marriage System 6

symptoms of a declining culture. The fact that western culture is dying has been

proclaimed on the covers of News week and Time magazine. is dragging society

down to a path very far from the true nature of man which is to take multiple

companions legitimately instead of one legitimately and many illegitimately.

The practice of Polygamy is ultimately taken up not for the pleasure of the self

but for the betterment of society as a whole, while fulfilling half of the Islamic

faith which in turn Muslim’s deity pleases Allah. (p.37)

This book is one of the most thought provoking books I have read lately and it is

truly remarkable how a practice from ancient history seem to still find its way in to our

society today as we become less and less dependent on the past as the information age

brings us all types of benefits in the world of technological advance and the

understanding that we have now of the human mind makes us by far the most superior

generation to walk this earth, and despite all of that the possibility exists that Polygamy

actually could makes somewhat sense if we take in to account the arguments made in the

book. Polygamy in Islam seems to put more responsibility in the man as head of the

household, while dissuading the need to the married man to engage in sexual activity

outside the institution of marriage by recognizing and embracing the fact that some man

do choose to do so. Polygamy in Islam allows man to marry up to four wives therefore

assuming that once a man has done this he will have no need to look for anything outside

of the marriage while doing their part to fulfill their share of responsibility in the caring

and providing for the higher population of woman.

Islamic Marriage System 7

References

Philips, A, & Jones, J. (2005). Polygamy in Islam. Riyadh:

International Islamic Publishing House.