Islam and Human Rights — Page 190
Isl am and Hum an R ights 190 lengthy process of div orce, designed to provide frequent opportunities of recon ciliation, was telescoped and the continuation of a marriage became dependent upon the sweet will and pleasure of the husband. The wife’s right to demand a dissolution [khul’a] coextensive under the law with that of the husband, but requiring recourse to the Qazi so that the wife’s position and property rights might be fully safeguarded-was per mitted to fall into disuse. The permission to marry more women than one at a time, subject to a maximum of four, designed to make provision for certain contingencies, was converted into a licence for self-indulgence. The strict condition of equality of treatment, “and should you be afraid that you may not be able to maintain equality between them, then marry only one” (4:4) was ignored altogether. The only restraint was imposed by the economic resources of the husband, and in many cases even this failed to operate. Dissolution of marriage at the will of the husband, combined with the legal recognition of simultaneous mar riages so long as the number of wives did not at any one time exceed four, brought the institution of marriage into contempt in certain areas and among certain sections of society, and served to divest it in