Islam_in_Focus_text

of this kind from his own sel f, to protect the woman in-
volved - whether she is the wife or the secret friend- against
unnecessary complications, to maintain the moral integrity
of soeiety, and to minimize evil, Islam has allowed recourse
to polygamy with the reservations and conditions mentioned
above. This is to be applied as an emergency measure and is
certainly much healthier than nominal monogamy and irre-
sponsible relations between man and woman. Men and
women, who find themselves in a desperate state or in a dif-
ficult entanglement, may resort to this solution. But if there
is any fear of injustice and harm to any party, then monoga-
my is the rule.
4. Nature itself requires certain things and actions of
man in particular. It is man who, as a rule, travels a lot on
business trips and stays away from home for various periods
of time, on long and short journeys, in his own country and
abroad. No one can take the responsibility of ascertaining
that all men under such circumstances re main faithful and
pure. Experience shows that most men do fail and commit
immoral offenses with strange women during the period of
absence from home, which may be months or years. Some
people are weak and cannot resist even the easily resistible
temptations. As a result, they fail into sin, and that might
cause a break in the family. This is another case where re-
stricted polygamy may apply. It i s much better for a man of
this type to have a second home with a second legal wife