Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 95
Social Peace 95 Polygamy In the West it is quite common to confront a speaker on the subject of Islam with the question: does Islam permit one to marry four times and keep four wives simultaneously? I have had vast experience in addressing many public and select gatherings of intellectuals in the Western world. Seldom do I remember an occasion when this question was not raised. More often than not a lady would stand up, and, of course, with due apologies, innocently enquire whether Islam permits four wives or not. Obviously, everybody knows the answer. But, perhaps, this is the only aspect of Islam which is so widely known in the West. The other well-known aspect is terrorism, but terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. 25 What sort of equality between man and woman does Islam propound when man is permitted to have four wives and a woman can keep only one husband? This is another form of the same question, which I believe is only used as a ploy to wipe out any good impression about Islam, which may have been built by the speaker. In less formal assemblies, wherein civilities and courtesies are not meticulously adhered to, the same enquiry attains the nature of mockery rather than that of a simple question. Many decades ago when I was at the SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London, a Pakistani student was plagued by an English fellow student with the same question repeatedly and somehow it never failed to elicit laughter. Once, I remember, he was pushed, perhaps too far, and he suddenly turned back and asked the young Englishman: Why do you object to us having four mothers when you have no objections against having