Two Muslim leaders come forward this week to claim both a market and a call for legality for Muslim polygamous marriages.
They have a good case in that our society permits plural sexual relationships, so why not this? The answer of course is that the Christian ideal of one man and one woman for life that has held sway in Western culture for such a long time, should remain our ideal, to the majority benefit of society.
The more permissive immoral structures we now have are causing untold damage to men, women and children. Polygamy will only increase that. Modern western sexual autonomy is a complete disaster. Islamic polygamy is just as immoral. We want a tightening of our legal structures to preserve marriage as represented in the proven Western tradition.
Theologically speaking, marriage is a spiritual metaphor of the exclusive relationship between Christ and his Church. It can only be captured truly by a lifelong exclusive committed covenant between a man and a woman. Two people of the same gender cannot image the complementarity between Christ and the Church. Polygamy cannot represent it because it is not an exclusive relationship.
The Christian marriage model is designed to curb the selfish and sinful tendencies of men and women. Both Western sexual autonomy and Islamic polygamy only serve to magnify sinful human tendencies, especially among men.
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Sheikh Chami as saying that he was asked almost weekly to conduct polygamous religious ceremonies, but had declined to perform such ceremonies.
He also claimed that there were other sheikhs without any qualifications, without any place, who conducted such marriages.
Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad said recognising polygamous unions would help protect the rights of women in the relationship.
“This idea of plural sexual relationships, it is not so much frowned upon by society as long as these people don’t say we want a polygamous relationship,” he said.
‘Polygamy all about wanting sex with more women legally’
Sheik Chami said yesterday there was nothing wrong with having a number of marriages. “You allow the lesbians, you allow the gays – why not these people? What’s wrong with it?” he said.
