many wives

[ZuzuBailey]

Why do men take more than one wife?
I found this blog
vena-thoughtsof.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

I have read it cover to cover and am just sick at the thought of someone treating his wife this way. The poor women in on and off of welfare and still thinks its ok for DH to have a second wife.
The second wife must work to support herself as he is not able or willing.

I do know of things like this in our county also so its not just Muslims. But why do they do it? It does not make sense to marry and have more kids you can never afford. Is this a sin?

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

It is selfish, self centered, lust, often involves drunkeness, basically the fruit of the flesh in Gal 5. So, yes it is sin.

Romans 13 tells us to obey the laws of the land, this includes marriage laws.

 

[Sister_Amy]

The OP asked “It does not make sense to marry and have more kids you can never afford. Is this a sin?”

It absolutely does not make sense to marry and have more kids, if a person can’t afford. In regards to having more children, God says He will provide for them, and for the parents. So sometimes having more children can’t be helped.

However, if a man chooses to take another wife, he must do so understanding his responsibility. In fact, if a man takes just ONE wife, he must be able to FULLY support her, AND her children. That’s his job, as husband/father. Fully support her and her children. If he takes any more wives, his responsibility only increases–to provide fully for all his wives and their children.

If he neglects that responsibility–by not supporting his wife or wives or children, then definitely, that is a SIN. In Islam, it is a sin.

 

[ZuzuBailey]

Seems very selfish. Having children is just about having them. They must also be taken care of and a man with many wives is “supposedly” working and would have no time for the kids or his many wives. How is that ok?
I see you only post in Islamic threads so are you a muslim?

 

[tawheedah]

The OP asked “It does not make sense to marry and have more kids you can never afford. Is this a sin?”

It absolutely does not make sense to marry and have more kids, if a person can’t afford. In regards to having more children, God says He will provide for them, and for the parents. So sometimes having more children can’t be helped.

However, if a man chooses to take another wife, he must do so understanding his responsibility. In fact, if a man takes just ONE wife, he must be able to FULLY support her, AND her children. That’s his job, as husband/father. Fully support her and her children. If he takes any more wives, his responsibility only increases–to provide fully for all his wives and their children.

If he neglects that responsibility–by not supporting his wife or wives or children, then definitely, that is a SIN. In Islam, it is a sin.

Sister Amy is correct. There is nothing wrong in Islam with taking a second wife, however there are conditions for doing so, and one of them is that you must be able to provide for all of them and take care of them financially. In these cases where the brother is taking on all these wives and the wives are on welfare, that brother is not going to be looking too good in front of Allah.

 

[Kadaveri]

In more modern societies, many Muslim men who take a second wife (and this is about 1-2% of all Muslim men, so let’s not overstate this) do so because their wife is more ‘education-minded’. The arrangement makes it easier for the wives to work on their intellectual persuits since they have more free time.

Historically though, the most common reason for polygamous marriages was when a man died leaving a widow who wasn’t capable of sustaining herself and/or her family alone, and so a trusted friend of the deceased would marry and support her.