How come Islam allows men to have up to four wives?

Lion of Judah Regular: How come Islam allows men to have up to four wives?
In the newspaper, they were saying how Israel bombed the house of that guy and killed two of his wives and some of his 12 children, then the next sentence says that in Islam, a man is allowed to have up to four wives.

So why does Islam allow up to four wives? And how come Christianity doesnt allow that?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Commy
It’s their religion, that’s their rules just like old testament mormons

Answer by Lolcat
There are certain conditions that the Quran places for Polygamy to be allowed:
1) Even for as noble an objective as the welfare of the children of widows, a man cannot take more than four wives.
2) If a man is unable to deal justly with all four wives he should not marry more than the number he can be just with. Justice is a value that has to be maintained at all costs and cannot be sacrificed even for such a noble cause

Read this for more info:

Answer by robert43041
So now you know why they insist on the Sharia, the Islamic code which has nothing directly to do with the Coran. It’s simply a matter of power over women.

Answer by Sam
Most people today view polygamy as immoral while the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns it. The first instance of polygamy / bigamy in the Bible was Lamech in Genesis 4:19, “Lamech married two women…” Several prominent men in the Old Testament were polygamists. Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and others all had multiple wives.

Answer by Dolores G. Llamas
For the record, nowhere in the NT is there any limit on how many wives a man can have. Technically, it is not forbidden in Christianity.

Poly marriage is nothing new, and Muslims aren’t the only ones to participate in it. Jews practiced it, even up to the time of Muhammad (pbuh). Most poly marriages are polygynous, meaning that there is one husband to two or more wives. Very few are polyandrous, which is when there is one wife to two or more husbands, Polyandry is practiced in Tibet and was practiced among some Native American tribes.

In times past, before women could go to school and earn a living by herself, she was at the mercy of the man she lived with, whether that was her father, husband, son, brother, etc. When there were wars, it was the men who went out into warfare. If they died and they had wives, what was to become of the wives? If her income stops, then what? Are she and her children destined to live as beggars? Or does she become a prostitute in order for she and her children to eat? In societies where there wasn’t poly marriage, these things did happen. Therefore, in these situations, poly marriage was actually for women. What would she rather become – a prostitute, or a wife? A wife, of course.

Also, when there are wars, it creates a lopsided population, meaning that there are more women than men. If there was only the one-woman-to-one-man law, then several women wouldn’t be able to marry. Poly marriage fixes this problem, allowing women to marry and enjoy their sex impulse appropriately.

Before, Islam, God never placed any limit on men as to how many wives they could have. The Qur’an is the first place where He gives them a limit, being four. Ah, but there are conditions. He can have more than one wife he treats them . There isn’t a hierarchy between the wives. The first wife doesn’t get treated better than the second, who gets treated better than the third, etc. If he gives one a gift, he gives them all a gift. If he gives one a nice home, he has to provide a nice home for the rest. Ah yes, that’s another thing. The husband bears 100% of the financial responsibility in his household, which means that he must support of his wives, and do so equally. If he can’t treat them equally in all aspects, then he should really take only one wife and leave it at that. Most Muslim men only have one wife.

Another note: The wives live in dwellings, and the man has to support wife in her different dwelling. Having more than one wife is not a pleasure ride for a Muslim man, oh no. It’s a lot of responsibility, and it’s very expensive. Not to mention, he has more than one set of in-laws to deal with.

At the time the Qur’an was written, women still relied upon the men in their lives. However, as education becomes more and more universal, and more and more women enter the work force to make a living, poly marriage has become less and less necessary. Actually, I don’t believe it’s necessary at all anymore.

I hope this has helped.

Answer by سيف الله بطل ‎جهاد‎
Insha’Allah this helps:

وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانكِحُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء مَثْنَى وَثُلاَثَ وَرُبَاعَ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ (4:3)

Wain khiftum alla tuqsitoo fee alyatama fainkihoo ma taba lakum mina alnnisai mathna wathulatha warubaAAa fain khiftum alla taAAdiloo fawahidatan aw ma malakat aymanukum thalika adna alla taAAooloo

4:3 (Asad) And if you have reason to fear that you might not act equitably towards orphans, then marry from among [other] women such as are lawful to you – [even] two, or three, or four: but if you have reason to fear that you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then [only] one – or [from among] those whom you rightfully possess. This will make it more likely that you will not deviate from the right course.

Answer by Frosty
Because a man made the rulesin Islam, not God. God says you may only have one wife.

(Most men couldn’t handle two wives anyway.)

Answer by zak786ahmed
People need to have respect.Islam is the only religion which has not had its holy book altered.Have some respect for Jesus (Isa) as hes known in Islam.when he returns to this world and destroys the cross only them will people realise the true religion of Islam.Man is naturally greedy and God knows this that is why we are allowed 4 wives but they must be treated equally.

Answer by Abdul Rahim
Islam allowed a man to have up to four man at a time, this is as what is mentioned in the Quran, Surah An Nisa (The Women) verse 3;

Meaning;

” And if you have reason to fear that you might not act equitably towards orphans, then marry from among [other] women such as are lawful to you – [even] two, or three, or four: but if you have reason to fear that you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then [only] one – or [from among] those whom you rightfully possess. This will make it more likely that you will not deviate from the right course.”

Islam allows a man to marry up to for wives provided that some conditions are fulfilled, and having a wife is a great responsibility in Islam.

Women, through marriage, are protected and have certain rights in Islam.

On the other hand, Islam rejects adultery.

In the Quran surah Al Isra (The Juorney by Night) verse 32;

Meaning;

“And nor draw near to adultery, for it is a shameful deed and an evil way (leading to destruction).”

To ask how God would come out with such a ruling in the Quran, is almost the same as asking, why Muslim are believing in God in the first place. Perhaps, through our humanly thought, this probably has something to do with protecting family institution, protecting women and to avoid adultery.

Answer by Fake Anna
I thought This is better than having four girlfriends …..