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Polygamy in Islam 
Legitimacy -     conditions-   Its purpose 
An Introduction: 
Marriage  in Islam is a noble relationship and it is recommended strongly  specially in adulthood.  Any sexual relation outside marriage in Islam  is forbidden and considered an adultery, a big sin and unlawful  punishable crime. It is a disgrace illegal unallowable social relation .  In the other hand there is a freedom to have more than one  wife(polygamy) at the same time a person  is not forced to live with a  spouse if they are not compatible and choose to separate they can apply  for divorce process which is easily given by a judge and they lead  another life. 
Polygamy  in Islam is an acceptable legal matter by Muslims that because God  constituted, organized and controlled human behaviors to distinguish  between human and other creatures. We all know that animals eat, drink  and mate with any female of its kind mindlessly but human has a mind,  heart feelings and must live and behave differently so  It is God's law  for mankind to follow specific rules in life and He knows what is best  for them and for their life so  God specified the method of fulfilling  human sexual need only through marriage , the relation that gives the  woman her rights and support as a human has dignity and pride, God is  the best knower of human innate needs,  psychological and biological  formation so God's law is the most perfect complete and most merciful  God says: "
{ أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ }الملك14 .
  "Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and  courteous, the well-Acquainted( of everything)" So Islamic laws had  great influence and effect as gratitude and glorification for  God"                                                            "
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In  the other hand woman in    Islam is cared about, protected and  supported by the man support here means all kinds of supports specially  financial support and man here means the closest relatives beginning  with the father if he is alive and able to do so or the responsibility  goes to her brothers, grandfather then uncles and   when she get married  the responsibility goes to her husband and if he dies the  responsibility goes back to her closest relatives. In Islamic law the  supporter is forced to protect woman's dignity as a human that needs to  be protected and supported by all means and she has the right to sue,  complain and appeal in a court if the man who is responsible refused to  do his obligation as a supporter.  A woman in Islam does not have to  work to live unless she choose s to do so. There is no system in the  world that protects, support and help woman as the Islamic  system.                                                                                                 .
Non-Muslims'  attitude toward polygamy comes out of either ignorant, naïve, close  minded or stubborn envious spiteful persons used this matter to degrade  and lift a hand against the whole religion of Islam stating that woman  life is a miserable life under this law of polygamy which in their point  of view is not proper way of life in the time of knowledge,  development, civilization globalization and freedom.
  To explain the fact about polygamy in Islam, we must discuss the topic from two points of view   :  
First; Legitimacy and conditions
 Second: Purpose and interests 
Concerning  the first point we will say that when Islam came, there used to be ten  or more wives under one man as in the story of Ghelan Ibn Omayyah when  he converted to Islam he had ten wives so the prophet told him to choose  only four of them to keep and divorce the rest of them.   And   Al-Harith Ibn-Kayis said "I converted to Islam and I had eight wives and  mentioned that to the prophet , he said to me choose four of them ( to  keep and divorce the rest.) so there is a limited number of wives we  allowed to marry  and a Muslim can't exceeded that number (four) God  says: 
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1.Resource: Probe Ministries: (www.probe.org) crime in America by Kerby Anderson 14 July 2002 
{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 }النساء3. 
"  Then marry women of your choice, two, three or four; but if you fear  that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one  or(the slaves) that your right hand possess.  That is nearer to prevent  you from doing injustice" 
This God's law has two distinctive characters: 
1-Allowing a man to marry more than one and limiting that up to four as a maximum. 
2-  It is a law that is relative to an important control  and a clear  condition that is the ability to deal justly with the wives or marry  just one wife.
  In Imam Kortobi' interpretation of the mentioned verse; he say that the  word One here to prevent increasing numbers of wives that lead to  injustice in treating wives that means justice is an obligation not a  choice and to mean that one is enough in this case. 
And in Imam Ibn katheer, Al-Shokani and Al Baghawi  interpretations of the same verse is the same meaning. 
Shaikh  Al-Sadi says in his interpretation of the same verse that is a polygamy  is allowable if a person is definitely can be just and fair and secured  of injustice and trusted himself of giving his wives all their rights  equally, otherwise he should have only one wife. Justice is the main and  most important condition in polygamy along the time from the prophet's  time up to the last day of life. That was stated by God in Qur'an,  strongly   recommended by the prophet and always explained clearly by  all scholars of Islam.  Justice means treating all wives equally in all  senses of living, housing, financial support for living and spending  equal period of time with every wife. 
From  this we can understand that polygamy is not an Islamic practice because  it was existed before Islam and Islam just made it a just and  controlled practice.
The second point about polygamy is the purpose of its   legalization in Islam: 
Islam  is a life system for human, it's a realistic logical   and compatible  with human innate creation and needs for all in all places and in all  times . it's  based on values and principles take in consideration human  dignity and pride to  lead better life and make a clean society.  Polygamy was legalized and allowed  for many different reasons and  cases.  First, there are more women in  most societies   than men that because men  are killed in wars, accidents, get sick and  die or they have to go a way for works and make living  and they leave  women they are responsible about in the house without a protection or  support,  in addition to that these days most men don't get married or  delay marriage for financial reasons.  That leave us with three choices:  
1-A man marries only one woman and leave other women single for the rest of their lives. 
2-A man marries only one woman and involves with the single ones unlawfully betraying his wife. 
3-A man marries more than one woman( in Islam up to four) lawfully and solve this social problem and having clean society . 
From  the argument above we can see that polygamy is the best solution and if  we know that in Islam it is an obligation that a woman is helped  ,supported and protected by the man. a father, a brother  or a  husband)that makes a woman live with her pride and dignity free of  financial responsibilities. 
She is a house wife that lives independently 
Second,  polygamy is a solution for widows who have children and mostly unlikely  to be accepted by single men but a married man can have a second  wife.   Third, It is a solution for not beautiful women  or women have any physical problem in her body should she stay single  for the rest of her life?  No, she can be a second wife for a capable  man.  Fourth, It is a solution for old single women who want to marry  and live as other women.
Some scholars of Islam says that a woman have the condition of being the only wife for the man before the marriage.
Another  point is that it is better for a woman to be a second wife than to be  single for the rest of her life and having living responsibility,  illegal sexual relation and be one parent person . A third point is that  the fertility period of a woman is shorter than a man, it last up to  the age of fifty but  in the man it can last to the age of eighty or  even after that so if he marries only one woman and she reached the  infertility age when he is still fertile, or may she get a disease or if  she is sterile, there will be a problem for him to have a relation so a  second wife is a better solution than a girlfriend or a mistress   because these two are unlawful in Islam noticing that keeping his first  wife is better than divorcing her and if a man can have only one wife  and if the woman is sterile and the man wants to have children and he  loves his wife wants to keep her he has no choice but to marry a second  wife again polygamy is the best solution otherwise he must divorce his  first wife and marry the second that lead to increase the number of  divorced women in the society which is a social problem from these we  can say that                                                   . 
Islam constitutes and controls human life in a reasonable and logical humanitarian way of life. 
 Some  westerners agree and support the idea of polygamy in the society; Gostav  Lubon said" polygamy is a good system, it raises the ethical standard  of nations and strengthen the family bond and give a woman respect and  happiness that is not exist in Europe"
Bernard Show said " Europe will be forced to go to Islam before the end of the twenty century wanted or not"
The  scientist Tos sees that allowing a man to marry more than one woman is a  solution that solve the problem and our daughters will be house wives  and the bad thing forcing the European man to marry only one woman that  led to run away girls and force them to work in man's job and the  problem will get worse if a man not allowed to marry more than one wife.