Basic HTML Version
in society where she can belong, and provides her with opportunities to care for
someone dear and to be cared for. This may sound unpleasant to a woman who
already has a husband and resents seeing any other woman having access to his
companionship and protection, or sharing with her his support and kindness. But what
is the feeling of the other women who have no husbands or reliable companions?
Should we just ignore their existence and believe that they have no right to any kind
of security and satisfaction? And if we ignore them, will that solve their problem or
give them any satisfaction? How would this very wife feel and react if she were in a
position similar to that of the companionless women? Would she not desire to belong
and to be respected and acknowledged? Would she not accept a half cup or a half
husband, as it were, if she cannot have it full? Would she not be happier with some
protection and security, instead of being deprived of it altogether? What will happen
to her and her children, if the dear husband becomes attracted to or by one of those
“ surplus” women over a social cocktail or a dancing party? What will become of her
if he deserts his family or neglects his responsibilities to make time and provision for
the new attraction? How would she feel if she comes to know that the only man in her
life is having some affairs with other women and maintaining another person in secret
or frequenting another spare sweetheart? Such a man is not only a loss but also a
menace. He is mean and wicked. Granted! But is this curse going to help anyone
involved ? Such a man is no longer, in reality, a husband of one wife. He is a mean
hypocrite, but the harm is done, and the soul is injured. It is the woman - the legal
wife as well as the illegal companion – who suffers from a state of affairs of this kind.
Is it not better for both women involved to equally share the man’ s care and support,
and have equal access to his companionship and be both equally protected by the
law?. It is to protect all parties concerned, to combat unchastity, to prevent such harm
and save souls from injuries that Islam benevolently interferes and allows the married
man to remarry if there is good reason or justification
2. In some instances of marriage the wife may not be capable of having any children
for some reason or other. To have a family life in the full sense of the word and
contribute to the preservation of the human kind, the presence of children is
fundamental. Besides, it is one of the major purposes of marriage, and man desires by
nature to have children to preserve his name and strengthen the family bonds. In a
situation like this a man has one of three ordinary alternatives:
(i) to forget it and suppress his natural desires for children; (ii) to divorce his childless
wife through a course of separation, adultery or otherwise; and (iii) to adopt children
and give them his name
None of these alternatives fits the general outlook of Islam on life and nature. Islam
does not encourage or approve suppression of anyone’ s legitimate desires and natural
aspirations. It helps to realize those aspirations and desires in a decent and legal way
because suppression in such a case is not part of its system. Divorce under these
circumstances is not justifiable, because it is not the wife’ s fault that she cannot have
children. Besides, divorce is the most detestible thing in the sight of God and is
permissible only when there is no other alternative. On the other hand, the wife may
be in need of the support and companionship of her husband. It will be cruel to let her
go when she is in need and desperate, and when she has nobody particularly interested
in her, knowing that she is unable to give birth
129
www.islamicbulletin.com