Islam_in_Focus_text

than to be free in committing immoral and irresponsible of-
fenses. This i s even much better for the wife herself; when
she knows that her man is bound by legal regulations and
moral prineiples in his intimacy with another woman, she is
most likely to be less irritable than when he enjoys the same
intimacy otherwise. Naturally she does not like man to be
shared by anybody else. But when she is confronted with a
situation wherein the man has the choice to be either legally
responsible and morally bound, or illegally and immorally
associated with someone else, she would certainly choose
the first alternative and accept the situation. However, if she
is harmed or her rights are violated, she can always refer to
the law or obtain a divorce if it be in her best interest.
By applying Islamic polygamy to this case, the man's in-
tegrity, the second woman's dignity and the moral values of
society would be more safeguarded. These cases need no
elaboration. They are factual elements in daily life. They
may be rare, but rarer i s the practice of polygamy among
Muslims. Those Muslims who resort to polygamy are much
rarer than the infidel husbands and wives who live in mon-
ogamous societies.
Although it is risky and contingent on many prerequi-
sites, as explained earlier, polygamy is far better than negli-
gence and infidel ity, hypocrisy and insecurity, immorality
and indecency. It helps men and women to solve their diffi-
cult problems on a realistic and responsible basis. It brings