02-15-2005, 05:05 PM
Bismillah
I am going to say something that might have already been said but I am too lazy to reread over this thread. Sorry.
Number 1 is that polygamy is only allowed. It is not even encouraged. Men are told that they can have up to four wives but they must treat them all equally and not according to the man's perception but rather the wives. On the Day of Judgement, the man's wives will be asked if he was fair to them. So the man is accountable before Allah. As the permission for polygamy is given and that all wives must be treated equally, it is also immediately stated that it is impossible to do this so it is better to just have one wife.
Back in the Prophet's time as been stated, men were the ones who mostly made the money. If a woman's husband died, there was no women's shelter, no government programs to provide for these women. Looking at the wives that the prophet had, one can see that most of them were married for political ties and to support women who had lost husbands. In times of war, men are usually the ones who are in scarce supply. One only has to look at the times of war with which we are familiar to observe this phenomenon. In my little insignificant opinion, it seems that having a husband who not only gives financial but also emotional and physical comfort some of the time is better than having no one at all.
Allah Forgive my shortcomings.