There is a lot of resistance to polygamy in our western brethern. In Islamic culture its seen as acceptable but not common.
What about poly-amorous relationships which are normally between three or more individuals but do not involve marriage or any manner of legal cover.
As an example I have someone I game with, whose is married yet has a girlfriend and her husband is fine with it. It is a physical and intimate relationship involving sharing of spouses and responsibility.
Is that the same as a polygamous relationship or would you draw a distinction? Because in the US and Europe they consider it a freer and fairer form of love and affection.
Supposedly that is not in the case of a polygamous relationship.
True legal cover is only for 1 marriage in the West. But the question is do people equate polygamy (being evil) with poly-amorous relationships which in most of the cases involve some form of same sex relationships?
In terms of ethics as long as they all know about each other maybe it is ‘fairer’ because it tends to involve consent from all of them (in theory anyway).. It’s not really socially acceptable though.. as with extra-marital affairs (and for those who can’t tell the difference the latter involves lies and deceit)..
Btw a better comparison would probably have been between polyamorous relationships and temporary marriages (misyar) imo..
Everybody consents to polygamy. If you are not happy with your husband having a second wife you get a divorce. Just like in a poly-amorous relationship you can leave or get a divorce as well.
There is no comparison between polyamourous and misyar - any person with an ounce of common sense would know that one involves multiple partners and the other is still with a single person. Hence no comparison.
The thread is comparing the legality of two forms, both involving multiple partners.
legally, its just harder to have more than 1 spouse when it comes to filing taxes, health insurance, determining beneficiaries, life insurance… im not a fan of having multiple partners (whether married or not), but I am not against it if one chooses that. to me, i would rather be monogamous than polygamous. its hard enough to be in 1 relationship, i dont know how anyone can manage multiple. to each his own.
There are certain non-Muslim religious groups in the west that also practice polygyny, not sure how legal their marriages are. There is no legal framework for recognizing polygamy yet, and I don’t think it is going to happen anytime soon. In most secular nations, consensual relationships between adults are not criminalized so there isn’t really a need for polygamy.
hmm actually it seems to be illegal in most parts of the world, not just “the west”. But considering that adultery is not criminalized, people don’t need legal status to have intercourse outside of marriage. Also, Islamic countries do not allow polygamy, but polygyny with a maximum of 4 wives. I think legalizing polygamy in countries where it has been criminalized would create a legal blunder. How would they decide how many partners one can have? And then there is divorce…
Didn’t say the West. I said most Western nations. Seriously whats with you liberals and being unable to read English? And this discussion is not about adultery unless you are comparing polygamy and poly-amorous relationships to it.
I don’t think we can reconcile western thought with islamic one. There is a lot of hypocrisy on both sides. And both differ in fundamental ways. They believe in 3 gods, but want only one wife ( legally ). We believe in one God, but want 4 wives.
I think poly-amorous relationships (open-marriages) are fairer. Unlike the Islamic version of polygamy, **both **people in a poly-amorous relationship are free to be with other people.
Er not really because wife 1 doesn’t usually get the chance to give her consent, does she?
Husband isn’t required to ask but if he does and she says ‘yes’ I don’t see the issue.. those sort of marriages seem to be the minority though.. most seem to start with an affair of some sort then become marriage rather than the wife giving input into the decision and them making it jointly..
Getting a divorce after isn’t the same as consenting to a relationship in the first place, is it?
Misyar is still incovenient. You can’t expect women two have a Nikah every time they wanna switch partners. Men on the other hand can go from one wife to another without worrying about any kind of paper work or Qazi.