The Obama Administration and Justice Department contunue to build a destructive anti-American anti-Constitutional foreign Muslim force within the borders of the US. We can only see evil and harm coming to this nation and its people unless these people are sent packing to the lands where they came from.
“I believe the government should
legalize polygamy because it is lawful in Islam. It would enable all the wives
to have the same legal status." -- Muslima
in an Islamic polygamous marriage
…nearly 70 percent said they believe that the
Islamic supremacism on the march
in
I have written on Muslim polygamy in the US here. And here: 100,000 US Muslims engage in polygamy.
What's next? Child brides? That is sanctioned under
the sharia. That's an "alternative
lifestyle" sanctioned by Islam and "religious freedom under the
Constitution." Honor killings? Clitorectomies? All sanctioned under the sharia,
and as Ground Zero mosque Imam Rauf reminded us in his book,
you cannot cherry-pick the sharia. It's all or .........
In his own book from 2000, "Islam: A Sacred Law," he wrote this on
p. 58: "And since a Shari'ah is understood
as a law with God at its center, it is not possible in principle to limit the Shari'ah to some aspects of human life and leave out
others."
Survey:
70% of Muslims say U.S. should legalize polygamy MuslimLink.com via creeping
As Legal Marriage Is Redefined, Some Muslim Call for
Decriminalizing Polygamy
The legalization of gay marriage in six states and the
continued efforts toward legalizing it in the rest of the country
has opened the flood gates that have, for hundreds of years
defined legal marriage in the
As more proponents of gay marriage push bills through Congress and rally votes
that support marriage as a constitutional right for all citizens regardless of
sexual orientation another group that remains decidedly outside the legal
confines of marriage is slowly entering the limelight.
Over 130 years ago a decision was made that criminalized the practice of
polygamy in the
Despite the redefinition of legal marriage to include homosexual
couples, the country still grapples at the idea of polygamy, a commonly
misunderstood primarily religiously based practice.
With an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people living in polygamous
situations in the
While some choose to quietly live their lives as they please, married legally
only to one woman but to others only through religious ceremonies, there
are murmurs among the polygamist community as the country moves toward the
legalization of gay marriage.
Just as the gay community has fought for equal treatment under the law,
polygamists argue the same. As citizens of the
In the same regard that the gay community faced stark opposition from religious
organizations that diligently fought, and continue to fight the idea of gay
marriage on religious grounds, polygamists communities face similar religious
stigmas.
While the U.S. Constitution boasts a separation of church and state, which
ultimately helped the gay community overcome the
opposition, it also guarantees the free exercise of religion which has somewhat
ironically been the biggest obstacle for the polygamist community.
Because polygamy is considered a derivative
of certain religious beliefs it would logically seem as though the practice of
polygamy would then be protected under constitutional law. However,
this is not the case, and has not been since Reynolds vs.
Many argue that polygamy is an exception to the free exercise of religion
because known cases of polygamous marriages of young girls. This cast a shadow
on the practice and many ignorantly equated it with pedophilia. Recent attacks
on the
Prophet Muhammad also equated his marriage to Aisha, who
was nine at the time, as an act of pedophilia. In cases where religious
practices are deemed harmful to individuals or to the public, the free exercise
of religion no longer applies.
While Islam itself does not condone acts of homosexuality and though
the mainstream Muslim community remains largely uninvolved with polygamy in the
“I don’t have any problem with that because it’s Deen.
I’m doing it for religion,” said Amin who admits to
performing polygamous marriages.
Amin, a sociology
instructor at
“We have in the world more women than men and if a man has the ability
to take care of more than one women he should be able
to do that,” said Amin. “As far as legalization, I
think they should...We should strive to have it legalized because Allah has
already legalized it.”
While Amin feels strongly about the good polygamy can
do for the community, others feel as though the issue of polygamy is one that
should remain in a historical context.
“The family institution in the U.S, whether it is Muslim or non-Muslim, is very
delicate. The idea of having many partners and many, many children who are
neglected or whose needs will not be met fully or even who will compete for
gains is not a healthy one in this society. This society is full of much
corruption without the addition of internal corruption. It is allowed in Islam,
I do not argue this fact. Our Prophet allowed this but in today’s time we do
not have the pure intentions and love for one another as they did in the past,”
said one individual in a recent survey on polygamy conducted
by The Muslim Link.
Approximately 42 percent of those surveyed said they were either in, or
knew others in polygamous marriages within the local Muslim community. Thirty
nine percent said they would engage in a polygamous marriage if it were legal
in the
One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, having been part of a polygamous
relationship for fourteen years expressed her support
for the institution arguing its ability to solve many moral ailments that
plague today’s society.
“I believe the government should legalize polygyny
because it is lawful in Islaam. It would enable all
the wives to have the same legal status...As a matter of fact,
I have discussed the issue with many non-Muslim women as well. The majority of
them say that if polygyny was conducted the way that
it is supposed to be according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah, they would have no problem with it. It is much
better than committing adultery, fornication and having illegitimate children,”
she wrote in response to the survey.
Born and raised in Christian family, she married a non-Muslim man at the age of
twenty-two. One year later both her and her husband converted to Islam. They
lived in a mongomous marriage for nine years before her
husband approached her about marrying a second wife.
“When my husband told me that he wanted to marry another woman we discussed the
issue and the three of us met and had discussions as well. There was a
public nikah and waleemah
at our masjid, and the whole community, including our
children and [I], attended,” she said.
Though the second marriage ended in divorce after fourteen years, it ended on
good terms.
Although those who said they would engage in polygamy if it were legal are the
minority, nearly 70 percent said they believe that the
As for opinions on whether or not Imams, like Amin
should be allowed to conduct polygamous marriages despite polygamy being illegal
in the
Polygamy is arguably not the most popular practice in the
Still, some feel as though the Muslim community should be focused on fighting
to protect the rights that they do have rather than rallying behind ones that
could send the wrong message.
“We also need to consider that legalizing an issue makes it “okay” in a lot of
people’s minds. If polygamy were okay, people who don’t understand it’s
conditions may enter into such relationships that could prove very unhealthy,
Muslim and non-Muslim alike. The issue of polygamy is not fully understood by
our own Muslim community for it to be taken to the
While anti-sodomy laws outlined in
As states move toward legalizing gay marriage, the criminalization of polygamy
is a seemingly striking inconsistency in constitutional law.
As for the American Muslim community and the practice of polygamy, Amin believes it is the responsibility of the Muslim
leadership to represent its benefits both religiously and socially.
“As an Imam I have a responsibility to put Islam out there in all its beauty
and glory. Even if I stand alone in doing this, Islam has be
be out there and more imams have to stand up for
Islam,” he said.
Though he doesn’t believe it is a necessary practice for everyone and notes
that only those able to practice polygamy within the rules laid out in Islamic
teaching should consider engaging in it, Amin feels its a reality that the American Muslim community should not
hide or feel embarrassed by.
For those who disagree with him he simply quoted a passage from the Qur’an, “Lakum deenukum waliyadin,” For you your way, for me mine.”
The argument remains, be it gay marriage or polygamous marriage, the rights of
the people should not be based on their popularity but rather on the
constitutional laws that are meant to protect them.