Polyandry is the name for a single woman having multiple men as husband. In the history and even now, there have been communities or individual families that practiced polyandry. When we look at Muslims, however, although polygyny (single man with multiple wives) is allowed, polyandry is out of question. In this series, I would like to scrutinize this issue.
Below, I am going to list the justifications of polygyny used by the Muslims, and for each one, I am going to briefly discuss if the same argument can be used to justify polygyny, as well.
1- "If the wife cannot have children, the man must have a child-bearing woman." Having children is an essential component of being a human. It is a basic right. Marriage is intended to satisfy this need in a healthy and licit environment. Today, we know that not having children can be due to both men and women. So, if one defends polygyny using this argument, would they defend polyandry for a lady facing a similar situation due to the barren state of her husband? After all, having children is a right not only for men but also for women.
2- "With multiple women, you can know who the mother is, but with multiple men, you cannot know who the father is." This was a valid stance until the recent decades. However, with the advances in the genetics science, it is possible to know who came from who. So, there is no problem what so ever in knowing the father in case of polyandry. Then, are people going to open their minds to this idea?
3- "Men have the economical means to look after multiple women, whereas women do not have the means the look after multiple men." This again could be a valid stance in the previous centuries. However today, there are many women who are more wealthy and economically more stable than men. Such women can easily take care of another husband economically, if the matter comes down to it. Plus, the age of maturation mentally seems to increase in the recent decades. So, if a wealthy lady of a stable character in her thirties want to marry two men in their twenties, and if the involved people are happy with this situation, then there is absolutely no obstacle according to this argument.
4- "Men's sexual needs are stronger than women's." Statistically and biologically speaking, this is a valid situation, and sexual satisfaction is a more compelling factor for men than for women. Let me express openly that I am not talking about any kinds of abuses of the matter. Now, another statistical and biological fact is that a relatively small portion of men, and perhaps an increasing percentage, have relatively low sexual drive whereas a small percentage of women have above normal sexual needs. The problem arises from the coming together of two people who have disproportionate sexual needs. In Islam, people cannot have a common family life before marriage, therefore, it is impossible to test this situation. So, when this problem surfaces after the wedding, either divorce must be enacted or another solution must be considered. For men, traditionally speaking, the solution is easy. After all, unsatisfied natural needs lead to either destruction or corruption. So, this solution is understable, even if hard to accept. How about women, though? If one is defending polygyny for the sexual needs of men, are they going to defend polyandry for the sexual needs of the female minority who are otherwise tortured due to lack of satisfaction?
5- Another justification of polygyny is told in case of men whose wives are unable to perform as a wife due to health situations. The traditional approach says that in this case, instead of risking their own health and opening way to haraam, men can go for having another wife, while still keeping and taking care of the first wife. Now consider a young woman married to a man that is significantly older than her. Her husband falls into a health situation where he is not able to perform as a husband anymore. He is unable to provide for the family, either. The husband himself is in need of care. In this case, the wife naturally needs to satisfy her biological needs, too. So, are those carrying the traditional view going to support this wife's acquiring another husband, while keeping and taking care of the first? After all, women, too, are challenged through biological and psychological ways in this life of examination. They, too, are going to be held accountable to their actions, leading to heaven or hell.
6- Aside from the above, if you make a search on reasons for the prohibition of polyandry in Islam, you may come across with justifications that might change from person to person and from culture to culture. In fact the same cultural norms that have resisted any change have caused much harm to both Muslims and to humanity at large. Obviously, such subjective matters are not sufficient to qualify something as forbidden religiously.
All these remind us the rule that "harms of something does not make it a prohibition of God, and benefits of something does not make it an order of God; it is only an explicit decree in the Quran that determines the ultimate judgment." Given the conditions of today's world, everything that is used to justify polygyny (when the proper conditions arise) is also valid for polyandry (again when the conditions arise). Then, we must look at the Quran to see if polyandry is really forbidden.
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