GUIDE OF SÉDHIOU - Cesie

THE POLYGAMY
“A man without a woman is like a vase without flowers”; this
African proverb almost reflects Senegalese reality; almost?
Senegalese men prefer their vase to be filled with a couple of
those colorful plants called women.
Alima is married with a man. But she is not the only one. After
15 years of marriage and 4 children her husband decided to
take a second wife who has exactly the same rights and duties
towards him. Every two days her husband sleeps in his second
wife’s room. Alima lives in a polygamous relationship, a fate
which she shares with a lot of Senegalese women. In Senegal
there is an exceptionally high percentage of multiple
marriages reaching nearly 47%. The word polygamy derives
from Greek language and literally means “the practice of
multiple marriages”. When it is the man who has more than
one wife, it is called polygamy, a lifestyle that is relatively rare
worldwide. But where does this concept of living come from
and why is it so popular in Senegal till our days?
The most outpointed reason is found in the Muslim religion:
every man is allowed to marry up to four wives if he is able to
spend an equal amount of time and money on each of them.
Polygamy is actually older than Islam and was accepted as a
very old tradition. Surprisingly enough Prophet Mohammed
lived in a monogamous relationship with Khadija for 25 years.
Only after her death he became polygamous, marrying a lot of
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