| Font Size |
The court denied the relief to Maulvi Mustafa Raja of Delhi dismissing his arguments that as per the Sharia Law, a man is allowed to keep four wives at a time.
“I may observe that even in countries governed by Sharia (Islamic) Law, the second marriage is permitted under special circumstances such as an illness of the first wife or her inability to bear children.
“In these cases, with the first wife's consent, a man may marry again and this is referred to as polygamy, a subset of polygamous marriages. The Holy Quran permits a Muslim man to marry more than one woman at a time (up to a maximum of four), but does not encourage such behaviour,” Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said.
The court also said polygamy is only permitted in certain circumstances including when the husband's death has left his wife with no other means of support.
According to the police, Raja had forcibly got the girl married with accused Nadeem Khan last year without her consent and also in her parents' absence and that the victim was raped by her alleged husband.
Even the consent of Khan's first wife, from whom he has got three children, was not taken at the time of his second marriage, the police had said.
The girl had managed to escape from Khan's clutches and had informed her parents about the incident after reaching her house, it said.
The court, while dismissing the anticipatory bail plea, said the practice of polygamy has been regulated or abolished in many Muslim states/nations and it cannot be encouraged in a liberal democracy like India.
“In the secular states of the Muslim world such as Turkey and Tunisia, polygamy is illegal in any form. Even in the nations where it is permitted, polygamy is only practiced by a small minority.
“Before a man can take an additional wife, he is required to obtain the consent of his existing wife or wives,” it said.
The judge also observed that polygamy is permissible in Sharia Law “as a part of social duty and charitable motives or when it seeks to prevent destitution”.
“Keeping in view the conduct of Maulvi Raja and the seriousness of the offence involved, I find no ground to grant any indulgence to the accused. The application for grant of anticipatory bail is hereby dismissed,” the judge said.
Maulvi Mustafa Raja had moved the sessions court fearing his arrest in an FIR registered at Aman Vihar in North West Delhi.In the FIR, he had been accused of forcing the girl to marry an already married man.
I thought polygamy is against the law!!
"Allows" it, but not "encourages" it. Semantic jugglery at its best. Even judges have to be careful when it comes to secularism.
Kudos to Kamini Lau. She has shamed our Congress politicians who cannot think beyond vote bank politics. Surely congressmen (who reversed the Shah Bano decision) will now make the usual noises about respecting other religions' shameful personal laws that are meant only to subjugate a section of their own population.
Our community never support this kind of laws, which is said by the maulana saab. fir taken on him is completely good step taken by the court. We definately support the law n order of our government. No one has the rights to force of marriage. even our laws never allows to get more than one marriage unless our first wife agrees and even unless a girl or women agrees for marriage. he should definitely get the strong punishment by law.
Islam doesnt encourage polygamy rather it is the only relegion which prefer one marriage , if we read Chapter Nisa(Woman) it says try to seek good quality in woman even if she has some shortcomings before your leave her. Marrying only for the sake of fun is not permitted rather it is allowed to control social evils. The incident in delhi is an example in which man went upto the level of animals.Beauty of this relegion is that it understand mans nature and gives some allowance before man becomes problems for society so misuse has been always there in the socity by few bad examples
It is an excellent decision of the court. Polygamy under any excuse should not be allowed to one particular part of the society, when others are banned to indulge in such activity. In a secular nation, the laws of the land must take a precedence on any other sectarian system. Muslims must follow the laws of India.
Of course Islam does not allow anyone to force a woman to marry a man out of her choice, therefore, the man doing so must be punished. The reason is that Islam has granted a mature, grown up woman the free will to marry a man of her own choice even without consent of her parents or any guardian. But it is also a provision of the Shariah Law that a man can marry more than one time and it is not necessary for him to seek the first wife's consent. He is, however allowed to do so only when needed and also he is sure to maintain equality among all of his wives in every aspect marital affairs.
The Delhi High Court's verdict is reasonable. But its arrangement that a man is allowed, Islamically, to do the second marriage only with the consent of the first wife, is totally foreign to the Islamic Shariah. Of course Islam does not allow anyone to force a woman to marry a man out of her choice, therefore, the man doing so must be punished. The reason is that Islam has granted a mature, grown up woman the free will to marry a man of her own choice even without consent of her parents or any guardian. But it is also a provision of the Shariah Law that a man can marry more than one time and it is not necessary for him to seek the first wife's consent. He is, however allowed to do so only when needed and also he is sure to maintain equality among all of his wives in every aspect marital affairs.
