In spite of the fact that Islam allowed polygamy on condition that all wives must be treated with equanimity and responsibility, some men misuse the permission with the sole aim of hurting and agonizing their first wives.
Others seek entertainment and sexual pleasure and brag to their male peers about their powers and abilities to marry second, third, and fourth wives. They believe that polygamy is all about bravery and manhood and they exercise it without having the financial, physical and moral ability to do so.
There are thousands of stories about polygamists who neglect their responsibilities to their wives and abuse the objective of polygamy.
For instance, some take advantage of their wives and steal their money by giving them false promises of constant profits. Then the man uses the money to marry a second wife while the first one is blinded by her ignorance and the trust in him. She suddenly realizes the truth that her husband defrauded and abandoned her and their children while he is busy indulging in pleasures being the groom of a new woman without worry or guilt.
I heard a story from a friend that a polygamist abandoned his wife and children, who were forced to seek charity, and then went and married a divorced woman who had children from a previous marriage. The man began looking after the woman and her children while he abandoned his own. Is polygamy only about boasting one’s strengths and forgetting the sense of responsibility, honor, manhood and morals that a man must have?
I believe it is the government’s obligation toward the citizens to set rules and regulations controlling polygamy. Men are getting married to four wives just because they believe it is permitted. The government must protect people from being unjust and unfair to each other. The government must also assign qualified officials to study the abusive way people approach polygamy in the Kingdom.
I think it’s also incumbent upon families to make sure and check the credentials of a man proposing to their daughter before marrying her off as a second or third wife. They have to check on his financial status, his morals and behavior, whether he has a criminal record or not, and that he’s physically fit and socially and financially secure to take another wife.
