London, Feb. 21, 2009
Abrar Alvi
Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi, British politician for
the Conservative Party, a lawyer, daughter of Pakistani parents,
requested to the Govt. to pass the law that Muslim men must register
all religious marriages and stop them to keep more than one wife.
She told BBC Radio 4 :
- Govt. has failed and ignored the issue because of “cultural
sensitivity”
- In this Country, we must have very clear policy,"one
man is allowed to marry one woman"
- The Government must register all religious marriages within
4 week
- Marriages would have to be declared within law. If the person
has a first legal wife and marry again then bigamy case should
be brought.
In UK, bigamy cases are increasing among NRI Muslims and other
Asian Muslims young men, who are born here- misusing the system.
They marry one British born girl and without telling her then
marry another girl or go to other countries to marry there.
Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi was born in 1971, in Dewsbury,
Yorkshire to Pakistani parents. She was educated at Birkdale High
School, Dewsbury College, and the University of Leeds where she
read Law (LLB). She attended the York College of Law to complete
her Legal Practice Course and trained both with the Crown Prosecution
Service and the Home Office Immigration Department. Sayeeda has
always had a keen interest in racial justice issues.
After qualifying as a Solicitor, she worked for John Whitfield,
the last Conservative Member of Parliament for Dewsbury at Whitfield
Hallam Goodall Solicitors and then went on to set up her own specialist
practice George Warsi Solicitors in Dewsbury.
She has also worked overseas for the Ministry of Law in Pakistan
and in Kashmir as Chairman of the Savayra Foundation, a women's
empowerment charity.
Sayeeda Hussain Warsi made her maiden speech in the House of
Lords. Like Baroness Neville-Jones, she focused on the plight
of women in Afghanistan:. Women continue to face severe violence
both within and outside the house.
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WHAT IS THE LEGAL STATUS OF POLYGAMY IN ISLAM?
The verse which allows polygamy “was revealed after the
battle of Uhud in which many Muslims were killed, leaving widows
and orphans for whom due care was incumbent upon the Muslim survivors.(Abd
Al-Ati, Hammuda, Islam in Focus, The Canadian Islamic center,
Edmonton Alberta, Canada, 1963, p.103.)
The translation of the verse is as follows:
If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the
orphans, marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but
if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them),
then (marry) only one…. (Qur’an 4:3)
From this verse a number of facts are evident:
That polygamy is neither mandatory, nor encouraged, but merely
permitted.
That the permission to practice polygamy is not associated with
mere satisfaction of passion. It is rather associated with compassion
toward widows and orphans, a matter that is confirmed by the atmosphere
in which the verse was revealed.
That even in such a situation, the permission is far more restricted
than the normal practice which existed among the Arabs and other
people at that time when many married as many as ten or more wives.
That dealing justly with one’s wives is an obligation. This
applies to housing, food, clothing, kind treatment..etc., for
which the husband is fully responsible. If one is not sure of
being able to deal justly with them, the Quran say: “then(marry)
only one.” (Qur’an 4:3)
This verse, when combined with another verse in the same chapter,
shows some discouragement of such plural marriages. The other
verse plainly states:
“You are never able to be fair and just as between women
even if it is your ardent desire…” (Qur’an 4:
129)
The requirement of justice rules out the fantasy that man can
“own as any as he pleases.” It also rules out the
concept of “secondary wife,” for all wives have exactly
the same status and are entitled to identical rights and claims
over their husband. It also implies, according to the Islamic
Law, that should the husband fail to provide enough support for
any of his wives, she can go to the court and ask for a divorce.
The verse says “Marry,” not kidnap, buy, or seduce.
What is “marriage” as understood in Islam? Marriage
in Islam is a civil contract which is not valid unless both contracting
parties consent to it. Thus no wife can be forced or “given”
to a husband who is already married.
I is thus a free choice of both parties. As to the first wife:
She may be barren or ill and see in polygamy a better solution
than divorce.
She may divorce him (unilaterally) if he is married to a second
wife provided that the nuptial contract gives her the right of
unilateral divorce (Ismah).
She can go to court and ask for a divorce if there is evidence
of mistreatment or injustice inflicted upon her.
But if polygamy is discouraged and loaded with such constraints,
could it have been better if the Quran simply forbade it? To answer
this question, we may have to raise another one
