Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 471
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 471 the Jewish Prophets, including the great lawgiver Moses, had a plurality of wives. No one has ever alleged that because of this they could not be accounted as leading virtuous lives. All through human history it has been recognized that in certain circumstances and under certain conditions polygamy is not only permissible but is fully justified. It appears to be forgotten that licentiousness does not consist in a plurality of wives, bu t in the character of the relationship between men and women even inside marriage, and certainly when a relationship is established between a couple outside marriages. From the moral and spiritual points of view, the main purpose of marriage is the safegua rding of chastity. That very purpose might make polygamy desirable and even necessary in certain cases. There are several other contingencies of a social and sometimes of a political character that might justify recourse to the permission accorded by Islam in that behalf. It must be remembered that polygamy is not compulsory in Islam, far from it. It is permissible under very strict limitations, the principal one being the maintenance of complete equality between the wives, as is said: ‘But if you should ap prehend that you may not be able to deal justly between your wives, then marry only one’ (4:4). Permission may be abused by persons who lack moral strength, but that does not mean that the permission itself is not justified and even wise. Let us now consider the case of the Holy Prophet himself. Sir William Muir has observed ( Life of Muhammad, p. 514): In domestic life the conduct of Muhammad is exemplary. As a husband his fondness and devotion were entire. As a father he was loving and tender. In his youth