Women Under Polygamy/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III MOHAMMED AND POLYGAMY[edit]
WITH the coming of the great Prophet of Islam polygamy in the East received a new seal. The worship of several deities was impeached by the reformer as false and injurious, and a monotheistic creed was substituted by the teaching of the Koran.
A founder of a new faith, however sincere and ardent his belief in revelation, is unable to detach from his inspiration the influence of national custom and tradition. Polygamy was a fixed and popular institution, venerated for its antiquity.
Probably no other system of sexual relationship ever presented itself to the mind of the prophet, except as an instance of the rankest heresy or sin. As an iconoclast vowed to the destruction of the old faiths, Mohammed had studied diligently the sacred writings of the Hebrews. In their Scriptures he read that the patriarchs and monarchs followed the rule of the Eastern nations in plural marriage. His compatriots also practised polygamy.
When had the custom been forbidden? Therefore, under the approval of Allah, plurality of wives was plainly permissible. The faithful were instructed that they might take "two, or three, or four, and not more women as wives." Provision was made also for the ancient practice of concubinage. The possession of all women captured in battle, or obtained by purchase, was allowed.
Divorce being sanctioned by the law of the Koran, a devout Moslem is empowered to marry a succession of women; although the number at one time is restricted to four. In the sacred writings, it is laid down that a man may dismiss and repudiate his wives without always showing a definite cause. On the other hand, legal separation, even for adultery, is not so easy as it appears.
Mohammed, whose first occupation was that of a camel driver to a wealthy widow, Khadija, was himself the husband of eleven wives, though not all at the same time, during the years of his mission. His mistress, Khadija, was his first spouse, and he had no other during her life. Special revelations were granted to the prophet as divine sanction for his excess in the number of his wives. But we must not suppose that Mohammed was exceptionally voluptuous. He had led a temperate and almost ascetic youth. His diet was spare, and he often shared his meals with poorer brethren.
Antagonists in the matter of belief have united in according fervent sincerity to Mohammed. Wellhausen says rightly that the prophet's sheer honesty of aim is proved by his voluntary subjection to the prejudice and the persecution of the people of Mecca, his native city. His virtues were courage, determination, humility in the hour of greatness, courtesy, and generosity.
Judged from the standpoint of Christian monogamic principles, the marriage rules of Mohammed "render the Christian ideal of domestic life an impossibility." Such is the view of Mr. J. W. H. Stobart, the author of "Islam and its Founder." We have seen, however, that "the ideal of domestic life " as upheld in Egypt, was humane, and perhaps the best that the world has known.
But let us examine the position of women in polygamy as permitted by the founder of the Moslem religion. It is commonly declared that women are excluded from the Paradise of the Mohammedans. This is untrue. We are told distinctly that "God will lead the believers of both sexes to the gardens of delight."
The law of the Koran referring to adultery is perhaps less primitive in its severity than that of Moses. Women are, of course, the most frequent delinquents in this offence, because polygamy practically liberates men from temptation. Adultery is punishable by death or life-long imprisonment. But very conclusive proof is required before condemnation. There must be four eye-witnesses to the act. Needless to say, the conviction of offenders is rarely secured.
Regarding illicit intercourse between the sexes, the Mohammedan code is extremely austere. Sir William Muir states justly that "the gross and systematic immorality in certain parts of every European community may be regarded by the Christian with shame and confusion," and contrasted with "a certain negative virtue" of continence among the followers of Islam.*
Although theoretically a Mohammedan may repudiate his wife on a trivial plea, the Koran teaches forbearance to the married. "If a woman fear ill-usage or aversion from her husband, it shall be no crime in them if they agree the matter amicably between themselves ; for a reconciliation is better than a separation."
- The Koran contains very explicit teaching on the preservation of chastity. An aspersion of unchastity upon innocent women was punishable by scourging. Promiscuous sexual relationships are denounced ; but a man may cohabit with his slave women or concubines. Strict chastity is enjoined upon Moslem women. Such absolute continence is, however, not considered within the reach of men.
That the wives of the harem possess many rights and privileges is beyond question. Very frequently they are the close companions of their husbands, the advisers, and the arbiters in domestic affairs.
The Moorish wives of the khalifs of Spain were frequently women of character and culture; and we read of their devotion to their husbands. Moon, the spouse of Ibn-Hajjaj, of Seville, wrote to her husband : "In all the West I find no right noble man save Ibrahim, but he is nobility itself. When one has known the delight of living with him, to dwell in any other land would be misery."
Kalam, a beauty of the Court of Abd-er-Rahman II., of Cordova, was one of several favoured and cultured women of the harem. She was a poet and a wonderful musician. Tarib, a much-loved concubine, was also greatly honoured by the monarch, who proclaimed her virtues and her loveliness in verse.
Strict modesty was inculcated amongst early Moslems. In pre-Mohammedan days, the preservation of modesty was marked among the Arabs. The Sunna code enjoins that a man should not uncover himself, even when alone, for nakedness was abhorrent to God. We may recall Job's atonement for this offence. Women, when in grief for the loss of a relative by death, expressed their emotion by uncovering the bosom, and often by tearing their garments. A man forbidden to wreak vengeance on an aggressor, showed his annoyance by exposing those parts of the body usually concealed. Such exposures are manifestations of ritual, and have nothing to do with lasciviousness. On certain occasions, the Hebrew prophets cast off their clothing, as a symbol or demonstration of emotion.
Special regulations guarded the pregnant woman and the mother during the period of suckling. Lactation is often prolonged for three years in the East, and, during the exercise of this function, women are compelled to live as celibates. As this would involve sexual abstinence on the part of the husband of one wife, we have here, in part, the origin of the sanction of polygamy. But this injunction does not account for polygamous marriage. Its sources, as I have indicated, sprang from our animal ancestry and primitive appetite.
Although cleanliness of the body was taught, the public bath was not recommended. Mohammed, who probably held the common belief that baths are haunted by evil spirits, forbade this ablution in public. Later, however, he relaxed this rule, and men and women were allowed to bathe, provided they wore loin cloths.
"Whatever woman enters a bath the devil is with her," declared the prophet. Nevertheless, the kammam, or bath, became a popular institution of Mohammedanism. The habit of mixed bathing may have been adapted from the Romans. In ancient Pompeii there were three sumptuous public baths.
Christianity abolished the bath. The first saints realised clearly that the cleanness of the skin, produced by bathing, friction, and unguents, was a stimulant to passion. St. Paula reproved her nuns for scrupulous washing, averring that "the purity of the body and its garments means the impurity of the soul." In mediaeval Europe, as Lecky points out, the dirtiest of religious devotees were the most honoured for their saintliness. The monks in the Middle Ages bathed only twice a year. It was better to be filthy externally than concupiscent within.
The Christian religion was a reaction and protest against the excesses of Greece and Rome. Frequent ablution, with its tonic effect on the whole system, was practised in the classic times for another reason besides cleanliness. In denouncing the bath, the early Christian teachers aimed at the lessening of sensuality. Under Henry II. of England, baths were recognised legally as brothels. There were several public baths in Southwark at this date.
Among the Moslems the purification of the body was a rite, and we find, throughout the whole dominion of the Mohammedan faith, an intense devotion to the bath. In the wonderful Moorish cities of Spain there were baths in every quarter. The "Turkish bath," with its massage, friction, sweating, and stimulation of the skin, was no doubt designed for other purposes besides ablution.
Celibacy is regarded with pious horror by true believers in Allah. E. W. Lane, author of "Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," found hostility among his neighbours in Egypt because he was unmarried. Difficulties were placed in the way of obtaining a house, and Lane was told that the purchase of a female slave would remove all disabilities. A sheikh besought him to marry a handsome young widow, who was quite willing to be divorced at the end of the visitor's two years' sojourn, or whenever it might suit him.
The avoidance of the sin of celibacy is not difficult in the East. In Egypt, the woman who said, "I give myself up to thee," to a man who desired her as wife, was allowed to marry, even without witnesses, if none could be found. Illicit unions are, therefore, uncommon even to-day.
Oriental male supremacy is expressed clearly in the description of Paradise. In the material heaven prepared for men of this faith, the poorest man is rewarded with seventy-two beautiful brides. The virgins of Paradise are termed houris, or hooreeyehs.
Besides possessing these heavenly spouses, a man may renew his marriage with the wives who have preceded him into elysium. To the Mohammedan woman, Paradise offers no such allurements. She will dwell there as she dwelt on earth, one of many wives.
The man translated to eternal bliss will live in a tent spangled with the costliest jewels, and will eat his delicate meals on plates of gold ; while his ears are enraptured by the music of Israfeel, "whose heartstrings are a lute." He will not experience satiety in sensual pleasures. If he pleases, he may beget children. Wine of the most luscious vintage will be his daily beverage, and he may drink of it freely.
Modern exponents of the teaching of Mohammed state that the prophet taught equality between men and women in married life. The salient rights of women under Moslem law are as follows : *
Chastity is enjoined upon men as well as women.
Every wife has her own dower, servants and apartments.
The marriage settlement must be returned in full upon divorce or separation.
At the death of the husband, wife recovers all of her dower and part of her husband's estate.
See Syed Ameer All's contribution to "The Dictionary of Islam."
A wife may incur necessary debts in her husband's name.
A virgin of adult age cannot be compelled to marry.
A divorced woman, or a widow, may marry again.
A woman pays only half of a fine paid by a man for legal offences.
Women must not be killed in warfare.
A wife may, with her husband's consent, seek for divorce.
No wife can be convicted of adultery without the actual evidence of four witnesses.*
The legal and social disabilities of the women of Islam are :
No woman can object to be one of four wives, nor to the number of concubines maintained by her husband.
Wives may be chastised. We are informed that such punishment is rare.
Women cannot give evidence as witnesses in law courts.
A wife must obey her husband implicitly.
Wives can be repudiated for several causes. Such repudiation is, however, not very common, and Mohammed warned husbands against discharging their wives through caprice or for insufficient reasons.
The secluded life of the harem, and the lack of
- " Personal Laws of the Mohammedans " Ameer AH.
social intercourse with men, except husbands and relatives, tends to narrow the intelligence of women, and their outlook upon life is circumscribed.
In some respects, Mohammed improved the status of women. Before his mission there was considerable licence and a kind of sexual anarchy. It would appear, from certain old Arabian proverbs, that before Islam, women were regarded as malign beings and greatly inferior to men. For example, it was said that :
"Women are the whips of Satan."
"Obedience to a woman will have to be repented of."
"What has a woman to do with the councils of a nation ? "
"Trust neither a king, a horse, nor a woman."
"Our mother forbids us to err, and runs into error."*
We find a somewhat higher conception of woman in a Mohammedan saying : "A good wife is as a mother for affection and tenderness; as a slave-girl for content and attentions; as a friend for concord and sincerity." It must be noted that this appraisement embodies docility and obedience, and is entirely in the spirit of the patriarchal rule in families. There is, however, some recognition of companionship between husband and wife.
In "The Crescent and the Cross," Warburton says that Moslem women do not show any discontent with their condition. They like to be watched and guarded closely, and discern no "degradation " in the life of seclusion in the harems. No doubt this is true in regard to the majority of women in the East. The majority everywhere are, as a rule, fairly satisfied with their position. But it is beyond question that dissatisfaction exists among many educated women in Mohammedan countries. There is a "feminist movement" in every civilised state ; and educated women in Turkey and Egypt and India hold meetings to-day to discuss the rights of their sex. Some of these conclaves are attended by men, who listen attentively to the pleas and arguments of the women.
While we must grant that there was a stage in pre-Moslem times, in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, in which women seem to have occupied an inferior station, the attitude of men was not usually contemptuous or harsh. Woman has always been endowed with mysterious, and often sacred, attributes. Amongst the ancient Arabs the touch of a woman could save a malefactor on the way to execution. So strong was this belief that criminals were led through streets blindfolded.