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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Educated Muslim Women In the UK Considering Polygamy

Polygamy is still legal in mainly Arab, Middle Eastern, African and southern Asian countries. Although mostly Muslim, there are a few Christian-majority lands where the practice is permitted, like Zambia, Congo and Uganda. And even in Buddhist Burma (Myanmar) polygamy is legal, though frowned upon by most.  Then you have Sri Lanka, Singapore and India all of which allow polygamous unions for their Muslim citizens only. And though it is illegal in most western countries, Australia and the United Kingdom. permit polygamous marriages as long as they were performed  in a country where it's allowed.

I was actually surprised about Australia, but not so much the U.K.  After all, British Muslims are increasingly turning to Sharia law to settle various matters, and many (not just extremists) are aiming for England to be ruled by Muslims

Since having up to four wives is allowed per the Quran, and a good man is hard to find, some Brit Muslim women are  looking to enter into polygamous unions because they'd obviously rather share a man than remain single.  These educated women want to remain in the workforce rather than become the child-bearing maid that many Muslim men expect to marry.

Mizan Raja, 35, who organizes Muslim marriages around the world, told [snip] The Sunday Times, that he has received hundreds of calls in the past six months from women asking about becoming second wives.

“The demand for these relationships is led by the women, not the men. In one generation women have become educated, entrepreneurial and professional.

“The Muslim community is struggling with this, how do you cope with women who wear trousers?” he said.

He added that many Muslim men just wanted a “homemaker”, to come home to a clean house and a plate of food on the table.

Another major problem is that eligible Muslim women far outnumber eligible men in the U.K. Maybe that's because they go to their homeland to find a nice, compliant, dutiful Muslim wife to bring back to England to cook and clean for them, and have their many babies. Or perhaps it's the fact that Muslim men are allowed to marry non-Muslim women, as long as they belong to one of the Abrahamic faiths, whereas Muslim women have to get their beaus to convert to Islam before they can marry. And they say women are equal in Islam. Right.

I honestly cannot fathom how an educated woman would choose to live in a polygamous relationship, then again, I'm not Muslim.

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