Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 241
241 Another safeguard provided by the law of Islam for the wife is, that her guardian for marriage is prohib- ited from receiving any money or property as considera- tion for the marriage. This is designed to prevent the guardian from making improper use of his authority to consent to the marriage of his ward. In some cases a man may be under the necessity of marrying more wives than one for moral, spiritual or even political considerations, or for getting children, or for reasons of health. Islam has, therefore, permitted a plurality of wives subject to a maximum of four on condition that they must be accorded perfectly equal treatment, both in matters relating to maintenance and the personal relations of the husband. The husband is enjoined to live with each wife for an equal period of time. If he fails to maintain equality of treatment be- tween the wives he renders himself liable to the pun- ishment described by the Holy Prophet sa as the resurrec- tion of only one half of his body on the day of judg- ment. Divorce and polygamy are often condemned by Western writers and speakers, but it is curious, that after heaping abuse for centuries, on the chosen one of God for permitting divorce, the West is being slowly con- vinced of the desirability of some form of divorce in order to preserve the fabric of society from crumbling to pieces. Would that it had paused and considered before traducing and vilifying the elect of God, so that it might have been saved the shame and disgrace of having to confess its fault. The West still hesitates to adopt the law of Islam relating to divorce which, on the one hand,