Muslim Men Can Have Multiple Wives If They Treat All Of Them Equally: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court recently noted that Muslim men are allowed to marry multiple times if they can treat their wives equally.

A single bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deswal said that polygamy was conditionally permitted under the Quran for a "valid reason". However, it has been "misused" by men for "selfish reasons", Bar & Bench website reported. The court was hearing a petition to quash the chargesheet against a man named Furkan in Moradabad.

What The Court Said?

"This Court would further like to observe that Article 25 of the Constitution of India gives religious freedom to profess, practice and propagate, which also includes external overt acts of individual as per his religious faith, but this right is subject to public order, morality and health and other provisions of Part-III of the Constitution. Therefore, religious liberty under Article 25 is not unfettered and can be regulated by the State," the website quoted the judge as saying.

The court highlighted that polygamy among Muslims has a historical reason. "There was a time in history when a large number of women were widowed, and children were orphaned in primitive tribal tussles in Arabs. The Muslims suffered heavy casualties in defending the nascent Islamic community in Medina. It was under such circumstances that the Quran allowed conditional polygamy to protect orphans and their mothers from exploitation," the Bench stated.

Polygamy Is Allowed

The bench noted that polygamy is allowed only when the men cannot take care of the orphans, and they should consider marrying widowed mothers on the condition that they treat all their wives equally.

The case is related to a complaint filed by a woman who has alleged that Furkan married her without revealing about his another wife and she has accused him of raping during the marriage. However, Furkan's counsel said that Muslim men are allowed to marry four times.

Meanwhile, the court has noted that rape and polygamy charges do no apply since their marriage was valid and both wives are Muslim. The matter will come up for hearing on May 26.