Polygamy in Islam

Dr, Zakir Naik says in his website that the Muslim practice of taking up to four wives is justified . He claims it protects the modesty of women, while keeping men from going astray. He writes in his website that human males are polygamous by nature and that a man is less likely to cheat if he has more than one wife. He also believes that there are more marriageable women than men in the world and claims:

"If every woman got married to only one man, there would be over thirty million females in U.S.A, four million females in Great Britain, 5 million females in Germany and nine million females in Russia who would not find a husband. Thus the only two options before a woman who cannot find a husband is to marry a married man or to become public property."

Naik points to the verse Qur'an 4 to explain the Muslim position on polygyny. This verse explains that a man can take more than one wife only if he is able to treat them equally. If he cannot do this, he should have a relationship with only one wife and/or "what your right hands possess" (i.e. female slaves and concubines)."

Rebuttal:

1. Naik has claimed that polygamy protects the modesty of women. He falsely believes that the population of women in the world is much greater than the population of men. Hence according to him, polygyny will reduce the number of women who will become "public property." Then he goes on a long rant about how there are many extra women in the world.

The following are the actual global statistics from the CIA (est. 2006). 

Global Gender population according to age group Age group (years) Percentage Number of Males Number of Females 0-14 27.4% 919,219,446 870,242,271 15-64 65.2% 2,152,066,888 2,100,334,722 65 and over 7.4% 213,160,216 270,146,721

Proportion of males to females Age Group Population Ratio At birth 1.06 male(s)/female Under 15 years 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over 0.79 male(s)/female Total population 1.01 male(s)/female

We can clearly see that the total male population slightly exceeds the female population, thus exposing Naik's falsehood. This trend is almost ubiquitous worldwide. Furthermore, the only age group in which women exceed men substantially is the 65+ age group. By this time, most women are already happily married, widowed or not looking for a partner.

The following are statistics for the USA:

Gender population in USA according to age group Age group (years) Percentage Number of Males Number of Females 0-14 20.4% 31,095,847 29,715,872 15-64 67.2% 100,022,845 100,413,484 65 and over 12.5% 15,542,288 21,653,879

Proportion of males to females Age Group Population Ratio At birth 1.05 male(s)/female Under 15 years 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over 0.72 male(s)/female Total population 0.97 male(s)/female

We can clearly see that, even though overall there are slightly more females than males in the USA, the difference maker is the 65+ age bracket. This is a far cry from what Dr. Naik has claimed. The age that people usually get married in is the 15-64 age bracket and the population of men and women here is roughly the same. In fact, if we look at the age group 0-64, there are 989,336 more males than females and so according to Naik's strategy, perhaps there should be some females who are married to more than one man (polyandry) so that the men don't become "public property".

Now, let's analyze an Islamic country. The following are statistics for Saudi Arabia:

Gender population in Saudi Arabia according to age group Age group (years) Percentage Number of Males Number of Females 0-14 38.2% 5,261,530 5,059,041 15-64 59.4% 9,159,519 6,895,616 65 and over 2.4% 342,020 302,005

Proportion of males to females Age Group Population Ratio At birth 1.05 male(s)/female Under 15 years 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years 1.33 male(s)/female 65 years and over 1.13 male(s)/female Total population 1.2 male(s)/female

We can see that the population of males far exceeds the population of females. The difference maker is the 15-64 age category too. According to Naik's logic, the Islamic state of Saudi Arabia should actually follow polyandry (one woman, many husbands), not polygyny (one man, many wives) .

Other points:

1. The ratio of women to men is not 4:1. The above statistics show that the ratio of females to males is around 1.01 : 1 , which is almost negligible and takes care of itself. There is no reason for a man to marry 4 wives. In fact marrying 4 wives will create a much bigger problem. The explanation is as follows: There are 101 females for every 100 males. Thus 1 female more. If just 2 men out of those 100 men marry 4 wives, there will be 98 unmarried males remaining and 93 unmarried females remaining. Now the number of unmarried males is higher than that of unmarried females. So does Islam allow polyandry? No. So it just creates more imbalance. And we are talking about only 2 out of every 100 men marrying 4 wives. If the number of men practising polygamy increases, then so does the shortage of unmarried female. Zakir Naik fails to address this issue.
2. If we believe that there are more women than men, it may be ok for a man to marry more than one woman. But if in a scenario, there are more men than women, Islam does not allow women to marry more than one man.
3. Naik has also claimed that polygamy keeps men from cheating on their wives. This is as absurd as saying, "making stealing legal will put an end to robbery." Naik reasoning is not valid on this point.
4. Naik has also claimed that man is polygamous by nature. This is a huge generalization as there are polygamous women and monogamous men. In any case this is as absurd as saying, "man is selfish by nature. Hence, he should betray others." There is no evidence to suggest that man is polygamous by nature.
5. Naik has taken account of the "25 million gays" who live in the USA. That number is unverified. In any case, he has not considered the lesbian population.
6. Naik's says that the only option for a non-married woman is to become "public property". This is simply ridiculous, obnoxious and insulting to women and does not warrant a response.

Another Response

• Dr. Zakir Naik's claim suggests that he has little or no respect for women. He considers women as inferior to men, and cannot handle responsibilities. Dr. Naik should take a walk around the streets of Bombay and watch Independent single mothers. He might feel offended by the sheer willpower of modern educated women in all spheres of life. In India, there are hundreds of Women CEO'S, entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors, pilots, social activists, journalists, writers, professionals etc. Dr. Naik should be aware of this. Is he jealous about women's progress or is he unaware?
• If a man can have multiple wives in order to curtail his desire for other women, then it is better not to marry that man. Not all men desire for other women. Dr. Naik's statements fails here.
• According to natural or universal law, that Dr. Naik is unaware of, if an individual practices polygamy/polyandry, then he/she is not in a position to devote his/her love to a single person, which is an essential element in a healthy relationship.
• When there are multiple wives, there arises natural human evils, such as jealousy, bias and prejudice, which may end up fatally.

• Scientifically, when a man has unprotected sex with multiple partners, there is every chance of him being affected by sexually transmitted disease.

• Moreover, a woman likes to be associated with someone who devoutly loves and cares for her. She may not be comfortable with a man who has multiple partners, who may not provide her with emotional support. He might offend her, abuse her, harass her, due to his ego of having multiple wives. Thus she might seek for an outside relationship. Which may not be accepted by your principles and finally the woman may have to face the ultimate blow. You cannot avoid realities Dr. Zakir Naik, these are realistic scenarios.
• It is not always true, that the female population exceeds the male population, except in western countries. In the less developed countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and many African countries it is exactly the opposite. Dr. Naik is not taking all factors into account in his statements.
• Even in western countries, where the female population exceeds the male, it is not necessary that all women become “public property”. As most western countries are predominantly Christian/Catholic, many women naturally become nuns or choose to abstain from sex before marriage. There are many evangelical pastors who also do not marry. Every individual has different tastes, attitudes and ideas of life, therefore some prefer being spinsters, there are so many spinsters in our own country, Dr. Naik needs to understand human nature. Dr. Naik, needs to consider lesbian women in his false claims. In the west, there is a increasing trend of lesbian marriages. Dr. Naik may call the practice of same gender relationships as 'Haram' in Islam, similarly practice of polygamy is 'Haram' in a civilised modern world.

• The usage of the word 'Public Property' to describe women, indirectly reflects downsizing of their sex. He presumes women are sex slaves and incapable without men. Sex slaves is a term that is parallel to 'Public Property'.

• When Dr. Naik says, that in Islam, there is only one god, and Muslims should worship only him, then going by that fact, How can men have multiple wives. Polygamy is logically unacceptable.

In summary, Naik has failed to justify the Islamic practice of polygamy.