Polygamy is not a practice limited to the religion of
Islam; rather, it is something well-known in the history of the People of the
Book, the Jews and the Christians, as well. It is only in the later times
that their religious men frowned upon it or forbade it outright. However,
when one looks into the early history of the religions, they will find that it
was at least an acceptable practice, if not encouraged.
Polygamy in Judaism
Polygamy existed among the Israelites before the time
of Moses, who continued the institution without imposing any limit on the
number of marriages which a Hebrew husband might contract. The Jewish
Encyclopedia states,
While there is no evidence of a polyandrous state in
primitive Jewish society, polygamy seems to have been a well-established
institution, dating from the most ancient times and extending to comparatively
modern days. [1]
Another common practice was the taking of concubines.
[2]
In later times, the Talmud of Jerusalem restricted the number by the
ability of the husband to maintain the wives properly. Some rabbis,
however, counseled that a man should not take more than four wives.
Polygamy was prohibited in Judaism by the rabbis, not God. Rabbi Gershom
ben Judah is credited by forbidding polygamy in the 11th century
outlawing it for a 1,000 years (that ended in 1987) to Eastern European Jews
(Ashkanazi). The Mediterranean (Sephardic) Jews continued to practice
polygamy. [3]
Consequently, according to Will Durant, ‘polygamy was practiced by rich
Jews in Islamic lands, but was rare among the Jews of Christendom.’ [4]
According to Joseph Ginat, professor of social and culture anthropology
at the University of Haifa, it is common and growing among the 180,000 Bedouin
of Israel. It is also frequent among Mediterranean Jews living in Yemen,
rabbis permitting Jews to marry up to four wives. [5]
In modern Israel, where a wife cannot bear children or is mentally ill,
the rabbis give a husband the right to marry a second woman without divorcing
his first wife. [6]
Polygamy in Christianity
Jesus, who otherwise overlooked polygamy, is
irrelevant as an model for marriage customs, since he did not marry during his
earthly ministry. According to Father Eugene Hillman, ‘Nowhere in the New
Testament is there any explicit commandment that marriage should be monogamous
or any explicit commandment forbidding polygamy.’ [7]
The Church in Rome banned polygamy in order to conform to Greco-Roman
culture that prescribed only one legal wife while tolerating concubinage and
prostitution. [8]
The Roman emperor, Valentinian I, in the fourth century,
authorized Christians to take two wives. In the eighth century
Charlemagne, holding power over both church and state, in his own person
practiced polygamy, having six, or according to some authorities, nine wives.
[9]
According to Joseph Ginat, the author of Polygamous Families in
Contemporary Society, the Catholic Church frowned on the practice, but
occasionally sanctioned second marriages for political leaders. [10]
St. Augustine seems to have observed in it no
intrinsic immorality or sinfulness, and declared that polygamy was not a crime
where it was the legal institution of a country. [11]
He wrote in The Good of Marriage (chapter 15, paragraph 17), that
polygamy
…was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be
lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce. For there is not now
necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear
children, it was allowed, in order to get a more numerous posterity, to marry
other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful.”
He declined to judge the patriarchs, but did not
deduce from their practice the ongoing acceptability of polygamy. In
another place, he wrote, “Now indeed in our time, and in keeping with Roman
custom, it is no longer allowed to take another wife, so as to have more than
one wife living.” [12]
During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther said,
“I confess for my part that if a man wishes to marry two or more wives, I
cannot forbid him for it does not contradict the Scripture.” He advised
Philip of Hesse that he should keep his second marriage a secret to avoid
public scandal. [13]
One of the greatest poets of the English language and the famous English
Puritan, John Milton (1608 - 1674), wrote, ‘I have not said ‘the marriage of
one man with one woman’ lest I should by implication charge the holy patriarchs
and pillars of our faith, Abraham and others who had more than one wife, at the
same time, with habitual sin; and lest I should be forced to exclude from the
sanctuary of God as spurious, the whole offspring which sprang from them, yea,
the whole of the sons of Israel, for whom the sanctuary itself was made.
For it is said in Deuteronomy (xxii. 2,) “A bastard shall not enter into the
congregation of Jehovah even to the tenth generation.” [14]
On February 14, 1650, the parliament at Nürnberg decreed that because so
many men were killed during the Thirty Years’ War, that every man was allowed
to marry up to ten women. [15]
African churches have long recognized polygamy.
They stated in the 1988 Lambeth Conference, “It has long been recognized in the
Anglican Communion that polygamy in parts of Africa, and traditional marriage,
do genuinely have features of both faithfulness and righteousness.” [16]
Mwai Kibaki, the Christian president of Kenya, whose victory was
attributed to ‘the hand of the Lord’ by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa,
is polygamous. [17]
No longer under the previous rule of Christian whites, post-apartheid
South Africa has also legalized polygamy. [18]
Early in its history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints practiced polygamy in the United States. Splinter groups left the
Church to continue the practice after the Church banned it. Polygamy
among these groups persists today in Utah, neighboring states, and the spin-off
colonies, as well as among isolated individuals with no organized church
affiliation.
In the United States, polygamy is illegal, but it
exists unofficially, with an estimated 30,000 to 80,000 people living as
polygamists in the West. Typically, these families are Mormon fundamentalists
or Christian groups that maintain polygamy is a time-honored and scriptural
practice. [19]
Before one points the finger at Islam and Muslims when
discussing polygamy, it is necessary that one have enough knowledge of the
subject and its history. One should not judge practices held acceptable
throughout history though the narrow mind of the present times. Rather,
one should research the subject thoroughly and most importantly, seek divine
guidance.
[1] “Polygamy”, Executive Committee of the Editorial
Board and Julius H. Greenstone. . The Jewish Encyclopedia. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=425&letter=P).
[2] “Pilegesh”, Emil G. Hirsch, Schulim Ochser and
the Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. The Jewish Encyclopedia.
Encyclopædia Britannica
Premium Service.
(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9071020)
Peggy Fletcher Stack, “Globally, Polygamy Is
Commonplace,” The Salt Lake
Tribune 20 Sep. 1998.
[4] Will Durant, “The Age of Faith: A History
of Medieval Civilization -Christian, Islamic, and Judaic - from Constantine to
Dante: A.D. 325-1300” (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950) 380.
[5] Christopher Smith, “Polygamy’s Practice
Stirs Debate in Israel,” Salt Lake Tribune Dec. 7, 2001.
[12] Deferrari, vol. 27: “Saint Augustine -
Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects” (1955), pp. 31, 34, 36, 18.
[16] Robin Gill, “Churchgoing and Christian
Ethics” (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 249,
[17] Sam Gonza, “Churches Celebrate Kenya’s New
President,” Christianity Today Feb 20. 2003. Marc Lacey, “Polygamy in Kenya an
issue after wives of president revealed,” New York Times Dec 19. 2003.
[19] Cheryl Wetzstein, “Traditionalists Fear
Same-Sex Unions Legitimize Polygamy,” The Washington Times 13 Dec. 2000.
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