Female polygamy article generates controversy
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A member of the Egyptian parliament has filed a lawsuit over an article questioning why polygamy is allowed for men in Islam but not for women.
Published in the independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, the article “My four husbands and I” by Nadine al-Bedair suggests that polygamy should either be allowed for both men and women – or else there should be a new concept of marriage where men are not allowed to take a new wife just because they are bored with the old one.
In Islam, men can marry four women at the same time – but only if they can treat them all equally.
The article has drawn predictably strong criticism from some Muslim authorities in Egypt, with one saying the author had no right to attack Islamic traditions and had to be stopped.
But one cleric at least has taken a different tack. He says the article is clearly not an actual call for female polygamy, but an appeal for people to wake up and see how badly some women are treated by their husbands.
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