Have we lost our instinct?

Other Voices

MBy Ahmad Al-Sarraf

ohammad Turki, who describes himself as ‘international instructor’, has published an advertisement abroad to train people on polygamy and shedding light on the culture, principle and the ethics. We got access to this advertisement through the social media.

The advertisement says polygamy is ‘inherent’ (instinctive) and common, and therefore it is necessary to learn its culture and principles.

The advertisement also contains ‘valuable’ information concerning a man when he is entitled to marry another or more women, and men who have the right for polygamy, morally, and ethically and from the behavioral point of view. This is in addition to the principles which a man has to take into account when he marries more than one woman. I did not understand what principles the advertisement talks about.

The advert also explains the motives which drive men to polygamy and how women can deal with the issue in addition to other interesting axes.

Turki promises participants to make the nine-hour course interesting with rich educational, cultural and social information and productive workshops in addition to offering solutions to widespread social problems.

He says he expects people of all categories in society to take part in the course, particularly those who have married more than one woman, those who plan to marry more than one woman, social educators, psychologists and jurists.

I do not know what the purpose of organizing this course is particularly since Muslims have lived for more than 1,400 years without the need for someone to instruct them on issues of marriage. It seems that such things have become a

Al-Sarraf

job for people of no jobs.

The ‘instructor’ calls polygamy ‘instinctive’ and this is the first time I have heard about this. How come it becomes instinctive when 99 percent of people do not apply it?

Instinct as defined in the encyclopedia means a set of inborn qualities, that is to say an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological being whether physical, psychological or mental, and I do not know why we non-polygamy men lack this instinct.

Although polygamy, lashing, chopping the hands of thieves and stoning (stoning, or lapidating is a method of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until he dies) and other rulings were acceptable at one stage of Islamic history. They were acceptable for many necessities and prohibitions, perhaps not currently applicable because of their negative consequences and legislators generally do not accept them.

The age in which we live is different from the previous and very complex. On the other hand parents now are required to do a lot for their children including educating, disciplining and protecting them against the risks, which means a lot of efforts, money and self control.

How polygamy can be easily accepted in this age which means giving birth to a lot of children is hard to digest. I can easily assert that a majority, if not all the families, where polygamy exists, especially rich families become disintegrated and their financial and industrial legacy collapses after the death of the head of the family.

This gives rise to conflicts among brothers and sisters on the advice of their mothers or brothers-in-law and complicates the issue of inheritance of property. And then when it becomes free for all, no one knows who manages what.

The subject, of course, is more complicated than what I have already written, but the space is small, so sorry, madam.

e-mail: habibi.enta1@gmail.com