We are faced with an unusual situation. A certain group within the intelligentsia seems unhappy with the time-honoured precepts of Islam, yet is not sufficiently bold or candid to admit it. It has chosen a new role for itself: on the one hand, it pays lip service to Islam and poses as its champion; on the other, it tries to impose novel meanings upon its injunctions, thereby distorting its real teachings. This betrays a serious crisis of the soul.
Intellectual honesty is a prerequisite for cultural stability. One cannot but regret this state of affairs. It is all the more regrettable because this is happening in a country established to translate Islamic ideology into the lived realities of society’s sociocultural life.
The Quran and Polygamy
One of the issues subjected to this kind of intellectual onslaught is polygamy. The Quranic verse on polygamy is being misinterpreted in more than one way. In this article, we shall try to discuss the Islamic viewpoint regarding polygamy. Let us begin with the Quranic verse that deals with polygamy, which reads as follows:
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلَّا تَعُولُوا 4
And if you fear that you cannot do justice to orphans, marry such women as seem good to you, two, three or four. But if you fear that you will not do justice, then marry only one, or that which your right hand possesses. This is more proper, so that you may not do injustice.
(a) It is said that the Islamic injunction concerning polygamy was given for the sole purpose of safeguarding the interests of orphans or widows;
(b) It is further alleged that polygamy was allowed only to such persons for whom it was to the advantage of the orphans, and that wives were to be selected only from among the orphans (or widows); and
(c) Invoking the principle of justice, it is claimed that monogamy was intended to be the rule in Islam and polygamy the exception, to be permitted only in special circumstances.
This, in a nutshell, is the case against polygamy as alleged to be derived from the Quran.
If this were merely the personal opinion of certain people, it would not matter much. But since these persons have attributed this view to the Quran, the claim should be corrected and any misunderstanding thereby created in the minds of ordinary Muslims should be removed.
As a matter of fact, mentioning the protection of orphans’ rights in the same verse that permits polygamy does not subject this permission to the condition of protecting those rights. If the prevailing conditions under which these verses were revealed are kept in view, the position becomes much clearer.
The fact is that the said verse does not grant any new permission. The permission already existed, and it was under that permission that the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Companions had more than one wife. The verse only suggested the use of this permitted device to meet a situation that had gripped Muslim society. It was revealed after the Battle of Uhud, in which 70 out of about 700 Muslims were killed, creating a great social problem involving their widows and orphans. The verse in question pointed a way out of the impasse, and Muslim society thus addressed the problem that beset it. The only new element in the verse was that, whereas previously there had been no restriction on the number of wives, the number was now restricted to four.
It is baseless, therefore, to say that permission to marry up to four wives was first granted by this verse, or that it was granted merely to protect the rights of orphans and widows.
The permission for polygamy is not subject to the condition of protecting the widows or the orphans, although it provides an additional ground for its justification. The permission has been given by Islam to meet countless social and personal needs.
Islam prohibits all sexual relations outside marriage and, to protect society from moral degradation and the evils of prostitution—legal or illegal, open or concealed—keeps the doors of marriage open up to a maximum of four wives. It is in the interest of the moral health of the individual and society that this safety valve has been provided. Islam creates a system in which sexual gratification can be satisfied only with responsibility and moral decorum, and not otherwise. This is the system most in keeping with the demands of human nature and the needs of a healthy society. Moreover, the responsibility for making a decision in this respect rests on the person concerned. Only he, and no one else, can decide on the advisability of a second marriage in a given situation.
Objections or Restrictions
As to the objection that people do not generally respect the obligations and responsibilities imposed by Islam, and that some new restrictions should therefore be imposed by the government on polygamy—or the permission itself should be cancelled—I would submit that it is not only hollow and baseless, but that the proposed solution is simply untenable.
In the first instance, the injunctions of Islam are the last word for any of its true followers. Islam is a complete code of life. It requires no new additions, nor does it possess such elasticity that it can take into its fold anything and everything, however perverted or removed from its general scheme it might be.
Secondly, if, as alleged, the prescribed conditions are not fulfilled and some people take improper advantage of the permission and exploit it, the real causes should be found and eliminated rather than the permission itself being abolished. It is an irony of fate that Muslim men and women are often quite ignorant of the teachings of Islam and unaware of their rights, privileges, and duties. It is here that the real wrong lies, and the situation can be corrected if knowledge of the injunctions of Islam is disseminated among them on a wide scale. Our real problem is ignorance, not arrogance—as far as ordinary Muslims are concerned—and the solution lies in igniting the lamps of knowledge. Besides, the absence of proper and efficient judicial machinery for protecting women’s rights is responsible for some of the ills that exist in our society. Hence, cultivating a proper consciousness of the rights and duties of spouses, and establishing proper and efficient judicial machinery, would set things in order, and no one would dare abuse this permission of Islam.
Do We Have Surplus Women?
It is also argued that there are no surplus women in our country and, therefore, that if polygamy were practised on a large scale, a serious shortage of women of marriageable age might result. But those who raise this objection are perhaps unaware that, if we do not have a large number of surplus women, we also do not have a large number of polygamous marriages. The new interpreters of Islam would therefore be better advised not to invoke imaginary fears to support a plea that has feet of clay.
Our attention is also drawn to the Quranic injunction that equal treatment should be accorded to all wives when a man practises polygamy. This, it is claimed, refers not only to material provisions that are to be divided equally, but also to the husband’s love, affection, and attention, which should likewise be equal for all his wives.
وَلَنْ تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَنْ تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ فَتَذَرُوهَا كَالْمُعَلَّقَةِ وَإِنْ تُصْلِحُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا 129
You will never be able to maintain complete emotional justice between wives, no matter how keen you are. So do not incline entirely toward one and leave another suspended. If you act rightly and remain mindful of Allah, surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Psychology Steps In
This, they further claim, is a psychological impossibility; on this basis, they condemn polygamy and demand that restrictions be imposed upon it. To this, we would like to say that, in the first instance, doing justice and providing equal affection, favour, and attention to all wives is the concern of the individual. No one can presuppose or predict a person’s future behaviour toward his wives. This matter falls beyond the domain of law. How can one be penalised before any cause for a penalty has occurred? This is against all the tenets of justice and law. Secondly, it is impossible for an outside party to decide this delicate issue. That is why the Quran has used the general term justice (عدل) and has directly addressed the husband, requiring him to maintain it. It is he alone who can judge it, and no one outside the matrimonial relationship. Lastly, I would suggest that, instead of imposing restrictions or taking drastic steps against polygamy, it is advisable to take positive measures to combat injustice in matrimonial life, whether polygamous or monogamous, and to set things right. Such injustices are not the result of polygamy itself, but are the product of our own neglect of society’s problems and disregard for the teachings of Islam. The honourable course is to correct ourselves, not to “correct” poor Islam.
The Question of Economic Means
Another argument put forward by the modernists is that most men have neither the means nor the inclination to support two families, and that the first wife is ignored and her children neglected. Hence, they say, the approval of the first wife and the satisfaction of the court should be required for a second marriage. But what solution do these “sympathisers with women’s cause” offer for men who have neither the means nor the inclination to support even a large family? Should they be deprived of the right to enjoy a happy family life based on love and affection, despite having no material prosperity or proper arrangements for the upbringing and education of their children and the maintenance of the household? Why not restrict first marriages as well, so that the standard of living may rise still higher and marriage may become the sole privilege of a favoured few who are born with silver spoons in their mouths and can afford not only four wives but also a succession of extramarital sexual relationships?
It is highly disturbing that Quranic verses revealed fourteen hundred years ago, whose meanings have been known and upheld by Muslim society ever since, are being given a new colour and subjected to ridiculous interpretations by a few champions of modernism. Is it not a fact that Muslim society has thrived throughout a large part of the world during this period, and that not a single instance can be cited in which any substantial dissatisfaction was expressed with the established law of Islam? Throughout this period, Muslim society has confronted all manner of economic, social, and political problems, yet no situation arose that demanded a change in the revealed law. Even today, no real need exists. The clamour against polygamy has unfortunately arisen under the influence of Western Christian culture, in which no justification is found for marrying more than one wife, while a number of extramarital sexual relationships may be maintained without the least hesitation or disturbance of conscience. Islam and Muslim society cannot tolerate this double standard.
It is high time that our modernists began studying our problems within the framework of our own society and culture and sought solutions that emerge from our own sources. Only then will we be able to make progress.
There is one more point that needs to be stated. We Muslims believe that life in this world is not the be-all and end-all of our existence. Another life is yet to come. While talking about the Quran, we must never forget that we are accountable before the Lord for whatever we say or do. Tampering with the injunctions of the Lord is a crime that cannot be overlooked. The minimum demand of honesty and decency is that we accept or reject the injunctions of Islam as they are and stop inserting our own ideas into the verses of the Quran. To the modernist innovators, we would humbly say: Hands off the poor Quran!
Hasan, Syed Munawer. “On Polygamy—The Quran Versus the Modernists.” Originally published in The Voice of Islam 12, no. 1 (1963): 24–29. Edited by Mufti Shah Rafi Uddin Hamdani (2026). Islamic Thoughts Academic Forum, online publication date: 21.08.2026.
https://islamicthoughts.com/article/en/on-polygamy-the-quran-versus-the-modernists .