A Quranic Perspective on Polygamy

Hey all!

Warning: It's going to be one long post!

I couldn't stop myself from posting after reading so many posts on kabir and ruksaar getting married and so much more on the future story.

Like all i also dont want the two to end up getting married so here i'll share my two cents.

Islam though allows a man to have more than one wife (upto 4) at a time, but at the same instant it condemns it. It puts a condition that is very difficult to fulfil for a an ordinary man, it was only the Prophet (PBUH) who could keep a balance.

Now i would like to point out the verses from the Quran that actually talk about this.

The following verse from the Quran gives the permission to a man to take more than one woman in marriage:

"And if you have reason to fear that you might not act equitably towards orphans, then marry from among [other] women such as are lawful to you - [even] two, or three, or four: but if you have reason to fear that you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then [only] one - or [from among] those whom you rightfully posses. This will make it more likely that you will not deviate from the right course." (Surah An Nisaa - Women, 4:3)

Polygamy should be viewed as a component of justice in the treatment of widows, but is mainly conditioned upon the need to offer fair care to orphans, according to the literal reading of the verse. And please also note that it is mandatory for a man to treat his wives equally.

The following verse from the Quran categorically states that the condition stipulated with keeping more than one wife is next to impossible:

"And it will not be within your power to treat your wives with equal fairness, however much you may desire it; and so, do not allow yourselves to incline towards one to the exclusion of the other, leaving her in a state, as it were, of having and not having a husband. But if you put things to rights and are conscious of Him-behold, God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace" (Surah an Nisaa- Women, 4:129)

If we read this verse in connection to the one mentioned before this one, it is obvious while Allah does permit more than one wives it conditions the man to treat them fairly and also mentions that treating them equally is impossible. Some Muslim states like Tunisia and Moroccan read into this very strictly and thereby have prohibited polygamy.

Now coming to the show. Given how the show is going about the teachings of Islam I'm sure the CVs will keep this facet of polygamy in mind too. Given the educated, mature and sensible individuals Kabir and Zara are I'm sure they'll be shown to deal with this very logically. If they are taking the Talaq issue so seriously then I'm sure they will take this seriously too.

Please guys you need to realise that ISA is not like other Muslim shows. ISA is actually talking about the principles of Islam and it's not like your usual shows where Islam is just a background setting and nothing more. The writer has told in one of his interviews if i remember correctly that they have and are consulting well-versed scholars for the show.

The writer has mentioned in his interview that it's a love story so you think and tell if they show Kabir having two wives how will they stick to the teachings of Islam where he is suppose to treat both his wives equally. Kabir is a mullah/Qazi so he has to set an example and he can't do that by marrying ruksaar too and thereby not staying true to his religion because obviously if he loves Zara then he will be prone to spend more time with her, and will be inclined towards Zara to the detriment of Ruksaar, thereby not fulfilling the condition attached to having more than one wife.

The reason i made such a long post is to tell that Polygamy in Islam is not as easy as people think it to be or previous shows on the television (with a muslim background) have shown it to be.

Given the above discussion and going by how ISA is tackling with Islamic principles i'm quite positive that there is no second marriage for Kabir.

Please pour in your ideas and predictions based on this facet of polygamy.. would love to hear your thoughts!