ANT Assignment 2

In Anthropology, polygamy is described as marriage between one individual and two or more
spouses simultaneously. Polygamy is mainly of two types- Polygyny and Polyandry. When a
man is married to multiple women at the same time, it is called Polygyny. Whereas, when a
woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is known as Polyandry. Around the
world, diverse societies support, accept, or forbid polygamy in varying degrees. Polygyny is
generally considered as the form of polygamy in societies where it is more permitted or
tolerated. Among the many religions and cultures where such practices are permitted, Islam is
one of them. Islamic law, often known as sharia, is a religious law that allows polyandry as part
of the Islamic tradition. It is based on Islamic religious precepts, specifically the Quran and
hadith. On the other hand, Polygamy is against the law in the United Kingdoms. "The Man with
Many Wives" is such a documentary where polygamous marriages in Muslim communities living
in the United Kingdoms is shown. As mentioned before, polygamy is illegal in Britain, but
permitted under sharia law. There are by some estimates up to 20,000 polygamous marriages in
Britain. In this documentary, insight is provided into polygamous marriages of some British
Muslims through individual testimonies of those engaged, both men and women. Muslims
accept and practice polygamy as part of their religion. People who participate in polygamy
marriage claim that it is not done forcibly. Marriage takes place with the consent of both parties
and their wives. In most cases, wives in Muslim households live in separate houses with their
own children. In this documentary, marriage broker Mizan Raja talks about the increasing rate of
polygamy where he mentions it is not forced on any parties. According to him, from the male
perspective it is because of the high libido rates and from the female perspective, it is because
of the sense of security and responsibility they receive. Hasan is a man married with 3 wives
where all the wives live in separate households and all his wives are pleased and untroubled
with the condition they are living in. Both parties are content in their marriage for the greater
benefits they receive. Whereas Omar and his wife, who is currently in a monogamous marriage,
are looking for another wife since it is allowed in their religion to do so. On the other hand,
Mohammed has three wives, two in the UK and one in Morocco. Although they have been in
this polygamous marriage for years, his wives seemed to be discontent. On top of that, he is
unemployed for which he finds it challenging to provide for his large family. Lastly, there was
Shaheen, a mother who barely receives any time from his polygamous partner, is looking
forward to divorce him after 10 years of being in this marriage. In cases of women, there are
conflicting opinions about polygamy marriages. Female Muslims who want to marry a man with
multiple wives are usually divorced or widowed. They get involved in this marriage for their own
benefit and interest. Some of them even prefer marriages with married partners who have been
husbands before. It should be noted that the man's first wife, as well as any subsequent
spouses he marries, must consent to the marriage before it can take place. Sometimes, an
issue of arguments amongst the co-wives stand as a problem to polygamous marriages.
However, it is frequently viewed much morefavourable by men. Most muslim men does not do it
because of having more women, rather they do it for the concept of family and children. They
place little value on marrying virgin women. Their aim is to help those women start a new life.
The main objective for men in polygamous marriages should be to treat each wife equally. No
wife should be seen as superior to another. Therefore, we can notice that even after facing
several different challenges and difficulties, men have a positive attitude towards polygamy
whereas on the other hand the women can be sceptical and have a conflicting point of view
regarding the polygamy relationship.