They have launched a Facebook campaign called “We Want Them Four,” asking every capable Saudi man to marry four women to reduce the number of spinsters in the country.
There are no statistics on the number of unmarried women in Saudi Arabia, but their number is believed to be high due to the often-extortionate wedding costs.
“Every Saudi and Arab man who is financially and physically able to marry more than one wife should not hesitate to do so in order to end spinsterhood among our women and help cap the high marriage costs that have deterred many young men from getting married,” the campaign page says.
Arab families have also been urged not to complicate marriage preparations by asking for a huge dowry and other financial obligations that young men are unable to meet.
The campaigners also asked men who marry more than one wife to be fair and treat them equally as advocated by Islam.
Another group of young men has launched another similar Facebook campaign, which says Islam did not invent the idea of polygamy but only formalized it. They also said the West was looking suspiciously at Muslims who marry more than one woman, especially as some of them did not observe Islam’s rules on the matter.
“You should not get a second wife just for the sake of it. You should marry when there is a need for a second, third or fourth wife and you are financially able to support them and be fair and just in your treatment of them,” the campaign page said.
Meanwhile a new Internet service has asked all those wishing to marry to register their names and data.
The service promised to keep the data of those who registered completely confidential while looking for a match for them. The organizers of the forum said most of the applications they received were from men seeking a second or a third wife.
