V. 3 is the basis for Islamic polygamy, allowing a man to take as many as four
wives, as long as he believes he is able to “deal justly” with all of them. For
according to the Mishkat Al-Masabih, Muhammad said: “The person who has two
wives, but is not just between them, shall appear on the Day of Judgment in such
a condition that one half of his body will be collapsing.” But of course,
justice in these circumstances is in the eye of the beholder. Ibn Kathir says
this the requirement to deal justly with one’s wives is no big deal, since
treating them justly isn’t the same as treating them equally: “it is not
obligatory to treat them equally, rather it is recommended. So if one does so,
that is good, and if not, there is no harm on him.”
It seems like it would be hard to be honestly just with even one womyn, but more than one would be impossible.
No comments:
Post a Comment