Polygamy is where a man marries more than one woman. Polyandry is where a woman marries more than one man. In the Islam religion, limited Polygamy is permitted. Polyandry is strictly forbidden. An apparent contradiction to Islam polygamy is that the Quran is the only religious scripture in the world that the words "marry only one" appears. In no other scripture, whether it is the Vegas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geta, the Talmud or the Bible, is the restriction of more than one wife mentioned. It has only been in later years that the Hindu Priests and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives man can have. If this is true why does Islam allow a man to have more than one wife? The words, "marry only one", in the Quran, have been taken out of context. The Quran actually permits limited Polygamy. "Marry women of your choice, two or three or four: but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one". (AL-Quran 4:13)
Before the Quran was revealed, there was no limit to how many wives men could have. Some had up to hundreds of wives. After the revelation of the Quran, the Islam religion only allowed man permission to marry two, three or four women, and only on the condition that they are dealt with justly (Google). His wealth, time, and nights are to be divided equally between each wife, and a wife may wave her rights and reclaim them at any time. Marriage and polygamy in Islam is a matter of mutual consent. A woman cannot be forced to marry a married man. Also, a woman may stipulate that her husband may not marry a second woman. Unless a man is confident that he can be scrupulously fair to all his wives, he must remain monogamous . Polygamy is an exception in Islam, not a rule. It is not recommended or discouraged, not permitted or forbidden. It is mostly only practiced by the wealthy (Answers).
Some men in western society have mistresses or multiple extra-marital affairs. Thus a woman leads a disgraceful, unprotected life. This society however will not accept a man having more than one wife. This leaves the alternative, for a woman who cannot find a husband, to be kept by a married man or become public property. In order to protect women from this disgraceful life, Islam has permitted limited Polygamy (Google).
The question now comes up at this point, what is the logic of allowing Muslim men to have more than one spouse while denying women the right to have more than one spouse. Allah created men and woman as equal, but different physiologically and psychologically. This makes their roles and responsibilities different. If a man has more than one wife, the parents of the children can be identified easily. In the case of a woman having more than one husband, the mother of multiple marriages would be identifiable, but not the father. Islam gives great importance to the identification of both mother and father. Children not knowing their father could suffer mental trauma along with other psychological problems. In addition they may not have a happy childhood, by not knowing who their father is. When it comes about that the name of the father is required, the mother would have to list more than one father.
In the Islamic religion, it is easy to see the many reasons Allah in his infinite wisdom allowed polygamy and not polyandry.
Furthermore, The practice of polygamy is actually quite rare in many Muslim societies. “Some researchers estimate no more than 2% of the married males practice polygamy.” [Dr. Jumah al-Kholy, Ta’addud al-Zawjaat wa Hikmatuhu fil Islam.]
One can safely say that the number of polygamous marriages in the Muslim world is much less than the number of extramarital affairs in the West[5].
