Sunday, October 17, 2010

Muslim Leaders and Polygamy

The Marriage Law No. 1/1974 allows a man to practice Polygamy i.e marry more than one woman if a Court permit him to do so.

This is not easy, because the Court would only give the permission if the man's wife permitted him to marry another woman, and that he is able to take care of more than one family.

In this regards, I would like to share with you a related article written by Khairil Azhar, a researcher at the Paramadina Foundation in Jakarta, that I have quoted from the Opinion section of The Jakarta Post (below).

Sex, hypocrisy and Muslim leaders                                                                          
The way to be at peace and free from the anxieties of unjust behavior is to have only one wife…. I have had plenty children with both of them. Day and night, I feel unrest since there is one thing I always think of: fairness. …. Never experiment with polygamy since we are dealing with humans. I myself am weak in this case, Abdulmalik.”
— Hamka, Tafsir al-Azhar

Hamka (1908-1981), a renowned Indonesian Islamic scholar, is quite different from Tifatul Sembiring, a so-called observant Muslim, leader of an Islamic political party as well as the communications and information technology minister. Tifatul practices polygamy and often shocks people with his statements related to sex.  READ MORE ...


Photo: Courtesy of SFGate.

14 comments:

genial said...

Islam has emphasized that taking advantage of the permission of polygamy is conditional on the observance of several factors and circumstances..

In general, Polygamy is not allowed if it will become a destructive behavior and carelessness. And the husband who is misusing it, he is basically misusing the law. In such case, the impious human is the problem not the law itself.

nice to know you here Sir... yupp I will follow your blog... but certainly not now... b'cause i can't login here... it's an ordinary internet station... not from my own home :) but.. i will follow you, later on :)

PJ said...

Hi Mr. Nizam,

Please forgive me if I seem "unlearned", but as a female, I think I would like to share my opinion by saying, one would think men would learn that "polygamy is not a good thing for "peace in a single family. After all, look at Abraham and Hagar (I know she wan't his wife, but to me he sort of took on that role when he "went in to her", another example, Leah and Rachel. Having 2 women in the same household is only asking for harsh feelings and jealousy to arise between the women, therefore bleeding over to the husband. That's only my opinion and as I said I am unlearned of your customs,but it seems like polygamy is asking for a lot of heartaches.

God Bless you,
PJ

Setyo-Utomo Said said...

I agree with Hamka..…. Never experiment with polygamy since we are dealing with humans...

Tikno said...

Interesting post.
I doubt if there are women who are willing (very willing) to let her husband to marry another woman. If yes, then her love can be doubted.

It sounds strange if a matter of wanting to marry again is charged to the court. Why not speak frankly if it was permitted by Islamic law.

ReBorn said...

ah, i cant click the read more link.

i think human have a never satisfied habitude. so, i think it's difficult to fair in life of poligamy. should not be done rather than regret later.

Unknown said...

@Genial,
You are right and our national marriage law adopted the same principle i.e basically a man
can only be married to one woman.
Exception can only be made if there are strong reasons and the man is capable of maintaining more than one family. Most of all, his wife must give a written permit and the court will make final decision.

@PJ,
I am always glad to read your comments.
I agree that a man having more than one wife would be very difficult to maintain peace in his family (ies) and will cause a lot of heartaches.
That is why the Islamic and our national marriage laws gave very strict conditions for polygamy.

@Pak Utomo,
Buya Hamka's wise words should be followed by present Muslim leaders.

@Tikno,
You are right, no woman would ever want to allow her husband marry another woman.
Our national marriage law required a man to get a court permit to marry another woman so as to protect his wife.

@Reborn,
About: Read More I have checked and no problem. Maybe your should try again.
You are right that it would be very difficult to be fair if we have more than one wife.

Rob Baiton said...

@ Harry...

There are always exceptions to the rule. So, it might not be entirely true to say that no woman would want to enter into a polygamous marriage.

They might not be the majority, but I am sure they exist.

A similar argument exists about the veil. No woman would want to wear the veil because it is indicative of the violence that men perpetrate against women.

The reality is polygamy is permissible under the prevailing laws of Indonesia. To ensure that it does not go unchecked the laws and regulations are designed to ensure some accountability over the men seeking to practice it.

Hey, the system is not perfect, but if the majority of Indonesians disagree with polygamy why not ban it?

Tien Soeharto was against it. She discouraged it, but even President Soeharto did not ban it, did he?

Maybe making a move against polygamy will be construed as being anti-Islam and therefore most people quickly lose the courage to argue against the practice and seek to have it not just restricted, but prohibited...

Just a few thoughts (I have more :D)...

Unknown said...

Hi Rob,
Some women who are very poor, uneducated, living in rural area would not mind to be a second or third or fourth wife.
As long as there the law still allow polygamy what should be done would be to make sure that it is strictly implemented.
Efforts have been made to ban or at least minimize polygamy but always failed, for the reason that you have mentioned.

TUKANG CoLoNG said...

ow ow, nyangkut cerita haji ama yang ngaku selingkuhannya itukah ini..? :3

munir ardi said...

there are many my friends who did it, not for sexual orientation but for help the other people like widow or orphan girl

warm Regards

Unknown said...

@TUKANG CoLoNG,
Bukan, tidak ada kaitan dengan yang sedang heboh itu.

@Munir Ardi,
It's good to know there are men who practiced polygamy to help those who are in need. Thank you for sharing.

alamendah said...

Persyaratan untuk bisa poligami sebenarnya berat banget. Sayangnya banyak yang gak menyadari itu.

Unknown said...

I agree with Abdulmalik.
because justice is divided difficult

Unknown said...

@Alamendah,
Syarat poligami memang berat, tidak hanya sekedar mampu secara materi tapi juga dalam berbagi kasih sayang besikap adil, bijaksana dll.

@ASPemusik,
You are right, it is difficult to devide love, fairness, wisdom, etc.