Egypt scholars engage in debate over polygamy

Recent statements by an Egyptian female professor about polygamy not being sanctioned in Islam stirred controversy amongst Islamic scholars and re-opened the debate about man’s right to keep more than one wife at the same time.

Dr. Zeinab Radwan, professor of Islamic Philosophy at Cairo University and MP for the ruling National Democratic Party, stated that polygamy is not allowed in Islam and that this is supported by several verses from the Quran.

“Polygamy was a common practice in the pre-Islamic era but it is not allowed by Islam,” Radwan said in the fourth Regional Conference for Exchanging Arab Legislative Expertise, organized by the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR).

Radwan, who is also head of the NCHR Legislative Development Unit, was amongst several Arab experts and law professors who gathered at the conference to present the legislative experiences of their respective countries and to discuss the compatibility of local legislations with international laws.

Radwan cited the fact that a woman has the right to seek divorce in case her husband decides to remarry as proof that polygamy is not permitted in Islam.

“Several verses from the Quran as well as sayings by the Prophet are misinterpreted, the ones about polygamy in particular,” Radwan added.

Polygamy was a common practice in the pre-Islamic era but it is not allowed by Islam

Dr. Zeinab Radwan

Radwan's statements slammed

Scholars at the Cairo-based al-Azhar, the world’s leading institution of Sunni Islam, expressed their indignation at Radwan’s statements which, they argued, were baseless.

“Radwan does not represent any reliable religious institution, and therefore her statements are not to be taken seriously,” said Dr. Gamal Qotb, former head of al-Azhar’s Fatwa Committee.

Qotb added that Radwan’s opinion is based on personal interests and that is why it should not be circulated.

“We shouldn’t repeat her words so as not to confuse Muslims about facts that are not debatable and not to open the door for misinterpreting religious texts.”

Dr. Abdul- Hay al-Faramawi, head of the Department of Hadith (prophet’s sayings) at al-Azhar, agreed with Qotb and said that verses from the Quran that allow polygamy are very clear.

“The prophet’s companions were polygamous and he never stopped them from doing so which means that it is allowed in the Quran,” he said.

Faramawi added that Radwan’s statements demonstrate obvious lack of knowledge as far as Islamic laws are concerned as well as a desire to project a certain image in front of women rights organizations and at international conferences.

“I tell all those people to stop complimenting each other at the expense of religion,” Faramawi concluded.

Male scholars were not the only ones to object to Radwan’s statements. Dr. Amna Nosseir, professor of Theology at al-Azhar University, said that polygamy was indeed prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula in the pre-Islamic era, yet with the advent of Islam it became subjected to several restrictions.

“Before Islam, a man could have an unlimited number of wives and without any moral restrictions,” she said. “Islam sanctioned it under specific circumstances and in accordance with a set of regulations.”

Nosseir added that the problems arising from polygamy are not related to the law itself, but rather to misapplication.

“Several men resort to polygamy when it is unnecessary and without being fair to the women they marry.”

Dr. Ahmed al-Sayeh, professor of Islamic Philosophy at al-Azhar, argued that since polygamy was allowed under very specific circumstances, it is therefore not really permitted by Islam.

“Polygamy was offered at the time as a solution for widowed women who had no one to support them and their children,” he said. “Therefore, it was a solution to a social problem that existed then and not a general law.”


(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid).

I tell all those people to stop complimenting each other at the expense of religion

Dr. Abdul-Hay al-Faramawi