Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan
Polygamy is socially accepted and religiously allowed in most parts of the world. Polygamy is practiced by males, particularly for various justifiable reasons. The current study aims to analyze the interplay of culture and religion to describe the existing practice of polygamy in Punjab, Pakistan. I...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Management and Technology
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/1503 |
| _version_ | 1798002331918270464 |
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| author | Farooq-e-Azam Iram Rubab Ambreen Salahuddin Ahmed Usman |
| author_facet | Farooq-e-Azam Iram Rubab Ambreen Salahuddin Ahmed Usman |
| author_sort | Farooq-e-Azam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Polygamy is socially accepted and religiously allowed in most parts of the world. Polygamy is practiced by males, particularly for various justifiable reasons. The current study aims to analyze the interplay of culture and religion to describe the existing practice of polygamy in Punjab, Pakistan. It is further interested in analyzing the male perspective regarding the practice of polygamy. The study is theoretically grounded in the patriarchal theory and Agarwal’s concept of bargaining in gender relations. In Pakistan, like many other Muslim countries, religion is the major support taken by men for practicing polygamy along with other cultural justifications. Wife’s infertility or inability to produce the male offspring and forced marriage practices are amongst the major justifications of polygamy found in the current study. During this phenomenological research, the researchers included the male perspective only by targeting 5 polygamous marital unions from the various parts of the Punjab province. The findings include forced marriages, cousin marriages, age difference in first marriage, first wife’s infertility and inability to produce the male offspring, and the absence of male successor in case of landowning families as major causes for males being polygamous. The study also found males from different socioeconomic backgrounds living in polygamous marital unions. This study suggests that the patriarchal interpretation of religion and culture needs to be defined and the prevalent justification of polygamous marriages needs to be revisited. Similarly, the true Islamic intent for marrying multiple women and of equality and justice amongst wives needs to be explored through scholarly research.
Keywords: Gender relations, Pakistani culture, Patriarchy, Polygamy, Religious justification
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:50:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc7e3eb35cf24b33b7fcfe034025e2ff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-0943 2520-0313 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:50:27Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | University of Management and Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc7e3eb35cf24b33b7fcfe034025e2ff2022-12-22T04:25:24ZengUniversity of Management and TechnologyJournal of Islamic Thought and Civilization2075-09432520-03132021-09-0111210.32350/jitc.112.13Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in PakistanFarooq-e-Azam0Iram Rubab1Ambreen Salahuddin2Ahmed Usman3Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Management and Technology, LahoreDepartment of Sociology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Management and Technology, LahoreDepartment of Sociology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Management and Technology, LahoreDepartment of Sociology, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab LahorePolygamy is socially accepted and religiously allowed in most parts of the world. Polygamy is practiced by males, particularly for various justifiable reasons. The current study aims to analyze the interplay of culture and religion to describe the existing practice of polygamy in Punjab, Pakistan. It is further interested in analyzing the male perspective regarding the practice of polygamy. The study is theoretically grounded in the patriarchal theory and Agarwal’s concept of bargaining in gender relations. In Pakistan, like many other Muslim countries, religion is the major support taken by men for practicing polygamy along with other cultural justifications. Wife’s infertility or inability to produce the male offspring and forced marriage practices are amongst the major justifications of polygamy found in the current study. During this phenomenological research, the researchers included the male perspective only by targeting 5 polygamous marital unions from the various parts of the Punjab province. The findings include forced marriages, cousin marriages, age difference in first marriage, first wife’s infertility and inability to produce the male offspring, and the absence of male successor in case of landowning families as major causes for males being polygamous. The study also found males from different socioeconomic backgrounds living in polygamous marital unions. This study suggests that the patriarchal interpretation of religion and culture needs to be defined and the prevalent justification of polygamous marriages needs to be revisited. Similarly, the true Islamic intent for marrying multiple women and of equality and justice amongst wives needs to be explored through scholarly research. Keywords: Gender relations, Pakistani culture, Patriarchy, Polygamy, Religious justification https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/1503gender relationsPakistani culturepatriarchypolygamyreligious justification |
| spellingShingle | Farooq-e-Azam Iram Rubab Ambreen Salahuddin Ahmed Usman Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization gender relations Pakistani culture patriarchy polygamy religious justification |
| title | Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan |
| title_full | Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan |
| title_short | Polygamy in Islam: Cultural Pressures and Religious Justifications in Pakistan |
| title_sort | polygamy in islam cultural pressures and religious justifications in pakistan |
| topic | gender relations Pakistani culture patriarchy polygamy religious justification |
| url | https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/1503 |
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