The Disadvantages Of Polygamy (Essay Sample)

Introduction

Polygamy refers to a situation where a man marries more than one wife or is when a man is living with more than one wife at the same time. Initially, polygamy was mainly common with those people who profess Muslim faith; however, Quran states that a man cannot marry more than four women simultaneously. In the western countries on the other hand, it is illegal to marry more than one wife at the same time and for that rule, this has seen polygamy increasingly becoming extinct in those countries. It is important to note that despite the fact that Muslims are allowed to marry up to four wives at the same time, this also comes with conditions; whoever has decided to marry more than one wife according to Islamic faith, the husband must also be ready and able to treat all of them equally. It is also important to note, these days of hard economic conditions most men do find very hard to marry even one wife. It is also important to note that there are factors that would drive a man to become polygamous. The other factor is when the first wife is unable to conceive and out of mutual consent, the husband can marry a second wife to bear him children. Nevertheless, it would be important to note that polygamous life has got several disadvantages than advantages.

This essay examines different disadvantages of polygamy as a form of marriage.

Disadvantages of Polygamy

Polygamy has got several disadvantages as compared to its advantages and for this reason; there are some countries where the government has illegalized the issue of polygamy. The first disadvantage of polygamy is due to the fact that it leads to divided attention and love among couples. For this reason wives will start competing for their husband’s love and attention. The other disadvantage of polygamy is that it will lead to conflicts and misunderstandings. Researchers have pointed out that in most of conflicts that are there in marriages, majority of those conflicts rise from polygamy’s. This is because these women will be jealous with one another and this could disrupt the marriage. Conflicts normally arise in the instances where the first wife feels that the second wife is receiving most love and attention of her husband. The other disadvantage of polygamy is that it will lead to extra marital affairs in the marriage which is quite dangerous. Researchers have also shown that in most of polygamy’s, there are chances that either of the women would be having another man outside their marriage. This mostly happens when the husband is not in a position to fulfill all of the needs of his wives at the same time including sexual needs. If a man cannot satisfy the needs of all his wives, there are high chances that one or all of them to have another man outside their marriage.

The other disadvantage of polygamy rises in the event that the husband is not having stable income. In this scenario the husband would find it very hard to take care of all his wives as expected. To take proper care of all the wives, a man should be having stable income that would enable him to supply the entire needs of all of his wives including all of their children. Polygamous marriages would result into a situation where a husband would be having many children that he may not be able to take care of as expected.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can clearly be seen that polygamy has got many challenges and it is not a very favorable thing to do. Finally, it is important to note that anyone that wants a happy marriage, he should consider marrying one wife.

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