On a summer night in 2008, the wives of some Iranian members of Parliament started receiving phone calls. “Would you mind if I married your husband - just for a week?” asked the female voice on the end of the line.



The callers argued that taking another wife is a Muslim man’s right. By allowing it, the MPs’ wives would be performing a good Islamic deed. Some of the wives hung up in shock.

But marrying the MPs was the last thing the callers actually wanted. In reality, they were women’s rights activists opposed to a controversial “Family Protection Bill” which the Iranian government proposed in 2007.

The activists say they discovered that at least 65 male members of the country’s 290-strong parliament had two or more wives. This is despite the fact that polygamy contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran has ratified. Article 23 stipulates that states must ensure that men and women have equal rights when marrying or at the dissolution of marriage.

If passed, “The Family Protection Bill” would reduce Iranian women’s rights even further, allowing men to take up to three additional wives without the consent or knowledge of their first spouse. Iranian law currently allows Muslim men to have up to four wives, but only after obtaining a court order demonstrating the permission of the first spouse and his ability to treat them all equally. For women who depend entirely on their husband’s income, sharing that with a second, third or fourth wife can mean severe financial hardship.

According to Shi’a Islam, Iranian men can already take any number of “temporary wives” without informing their first wife. The length of a temporary marriage is defined in advance and can last anything from hours to decades. Temporary wives generally face social ostracism, and their children may face difficulties in accessing public services such as education because if the marriage is unregistered, it may be hard for the mother to prove paternity.

Roya Kashefi of the Association of Iranian Researchers works closely with women’s rights activists in Iran.

“In Islam, family is the most important element within society,” she says.

“It’s a sacred entity and there are many articles in the Iranian Constitution that point to the importance of marriage. So it’s very contradictory to have laws that actually endanger the very foundation of that marriage with polygamy.”

Roya Kashefi has helped to organize a Europe-wide tour publicizing a banner inscribed with the tragic stories of 40 Iranian women who are second wives, temporary wives or the children of such marriages. The tour, named “Chehel Tikeh” (“Forty pieces”) is aimed at raising international awareness about the discriminatory bill.

The banner was taken to Iran’s parliament, the Majles, a year ago, although MPs refused to accept it.

Fifteen thousand women signed a petition calling for a ban on polygamy, submitted at the same time.

Women’s rights activists are urging the Iranian authorities to outlaw polygamy, grant equal divorce and custody rights and create laws tackling domestic violence.

At the moment married women in Iran can be prevented from working, leaving the country or pursuing further education by their husbands. It is difficult for a woman to divorce her husband without his consent - even if he has been violent towards her. If she remarries after divorce, she loses custody of any children.

Activists say provisions in the new bill will make it even more difficult for women to obtain a divorce, leaving thousands at risk of continued domestic violence, which is not currently criminalized under Iranian law.

Four years after its inception, the bill has still not been passed, largely because of widespread opposition from a broad coalition of women’s groups.



A ban on polygamy is unlikely to happen soon in Iran even though the UN Human Rights Committee - an expert body charged with overseeing the ICCPR - says the practice should be abolished because it violates the dignity of women. For change to happen, external pressure is needed, says Roya Kashefi.

“The international community needs to reinforce the voices of Iranian women and raise the alarm about this bill which will leave Iranian women even more vulnerable,” says Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

“Instead of enhancing equality between men and women, Iranian MPs are seeking to take women’s rights a step backwards and to yet again disregard international law,” she added.

http://www.payvand.com/news/11/dec/1003.html

polygamy . . . mohammad's way of satiating his own enormous sexual appetite.

davidylan:

polygamy . . . mohammad's way of satiating his own enormous intimate appetite.

didn't your god,or even Jesus,depending on your mood of who you call "god" allowed it in the bible?

the bible is the most polygamous book on the face of the earth.we see men of God having hundreds of wife.

the Quran is the most monogamous book on earth.it says we should marry one if we cannot do justice and be fair but can marry up to four.

Quran 4:3
"And if you fear that you cannot act equitably towards orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; but if you fear that you will not do justice (between them), then (marry) only one or what your right hands possess; this is more proper, that you may not deviate from the right course. "

As for the news itself about Iranian women,both the what the bill is about and what the women are asking for does not in the slightest instance oppose or violate islamic law.

In islam,we woman has the right to condition before marrying a man that she does not want her husband to take a second wife.there is nothing wrong with a man marrying only one woman and abstaining from having more than one wife.it is also within the bounds of islam for a man to marry more than one if there is agreement between the man and the woman.

As for the nonsense of “Davidylan”,our Prophet’s (sa) marriages are all full of moral lessons we can learn from and there is not once that he took a wife without valid reasons.this has being discussed and explained before with extensive explanations dealing with each of his marriages:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-53711.0.html#msg7170275

Deuteronomy 21:15
If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:

Exodus 21:10
If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.

1 Kings 11:3
He (Solomon) had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, [/b]and his wives turned away his heart.

[b]2 Chronicles 11:21
And Rehoboam (son of Solomon) loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

2 Samuel 5:13
After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

David, Had Six Wives and Numerous Concubines
1 Chronicles 3:1-9
These were the sons of David born to him in Hebron:The firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel;the second, Daniel the son of Abigail of Carmel;the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.These six were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years,and these were the children born to him there: Shammua,Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.There were also Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet—nine in all.All these were the sons of David, besides his sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.