Author:
Publication: Sify News
Date: January 5, 2003
URL: http://headlines.sify.com/1547news5.html
Malaysian men seem increasingly
keen on polygamy, just as women's groups are plotting how to curb husbands'
rights to as many as four wives.
One politician -- a male -- is so
enthusiastic about the practice that he wants women who allow their husbands
to marry a second wife to receive medals of honour.
Women, however, don't seem too keen
on the medals. "We want the legal system to restrict the practice of polygamy,"
Ruzana Udin, the spokeswoman for Sisters In Islam (SIS), told AFP.
But it will be an uphill battle.
The government of northern Perlis state has announced that it will do away
with the need to obtain a first wife's written consent to a second marriage
to stop men flocking across the border to marry again in less-restrictive
Thailand.
The Minister of Women and Family
Development, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, called the move an insult to women.
Another northern state, Terengganu,
is preparing to issue legislators with undated letters authorising them
to take another wife at any time.
That idea seems to have left the
women speechless with rage, while men who are not elected representatives
might be wondering why they are left out of such an easing of the rules.
Although laws vary from state to
state in Muslim-majority Malaysia, they generally require the signed consent
of a man's first wife before he is allowed to take a second.
And while Islam permits a man to
marry four wives, he has to prove he has the financial means and ability
to treat all wives equally.
Malaysian men often try to escape
these strict requirements and get hitched in the Muslim parts of southern
Thailand without any such fuss.
If Malaysia's women's groups have
their way, however, taking more wives is about to get even fussier. "We
feel that in this day and age, polygamy is no longer necessary," Women's
Aid Organisation (WAO) executive secretary Ivy Josiah told AFP.
"The Holy Quran allowed it in limited
circumstances and contexts. But it is now time to debate its necessity."
Some men, such as Johor state legislator
Ali Shikh Ahmad who proposed the medals of honour for willing wives, say
polygamy helps solve social problems, for example by giving single mothers
a chance of marriage.
But this argument is dismissed by
Sisters in Islam. "It doesn't solve social ills, it doesn't help single
mums at all," said spokeswoman Ruzana.
"Most children who live with polygamy
suffer because their fathers are too preoccupied with their other wives
to be properly involved in their upbringing."
"It's ridiculous when polygamy is
touted as a solution to social ills when it clearly does the opposite."
She told AFP that the organisation
was not immediately seeking an outright ban on polygamy, but a previous
statement issued by SIS submitted that "it is not wrong or offensive to
suggest the possibility of a ban on polygamy for Muslims."
Her view has been supported by the
spiritual leader of the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia, Nik Aziz
Nik Mat, who said polygamists who dump their first wives after "extracting
all their sweetness" should be whipped until they become impotent.
He suggested there should be some
legislation to differentiate between those who practise polygamy for noble
reasons, and those who do it for selfish motives of lust.
But WAO's Josiah said that in the
modern age, where women have access to education and employment, all polygamy
was unnecessary.
"The historical context of polygamy
during the Prophet's time was to protect the welfare of widows and their
children in times of war. This is obviously not relevant anymore," she
said.
The outdated practice also constituted
a form of mental abuse, creating fear and insecurity in women who live
with polygamy.
"I have yet to receive a call from
a woman saying she is happy that her husband has married again," she said.
