From urging Muslims not to celebrate birthdays to asking men to avoid working in banks and financial institutions, the diktats from the Darul Uloom at Deoband have often evoked a mixture of mirth and anger.Sound like real party animals.
In a revolutionary fatwa which could go a long way at strengthening the institution of Islamic wedding, the Darul Uloom at Deoband, in a departure from the Shariah, has said that a second marriage would be a bad idea if the first wife was alive.How about embracing gender equality and then letting adults decide for themselves? You know, a woman might want to marry a married man, or might want to marry two men, or a woman, or two women.
Darul Ifta, the fatwa department of India's foremost Islamic seminary, passed the decree following an online question posed by a married man with two children.Why don't they let adults decide that for themselves?
"According to the Shariah, it is lawful to keep two wives at the same time. But it is generally not acceptable in Indian custom. Here in India, it is like inviting hundreds of problems. Moreover, the husband generally cannot do justice and cannot maintain equality between the two wives."
There was no harm cited by the freedom to marry, only warnings that people would be sorry if they married more than one person. Isn't that up to the people in the marriage?
![Non-Monogamy Diagram [I:FV]](http://www.obsidianfields.com/lj/nonmonogamy2.5.1.gif){kind=link}
For about a century now, in the West, men and women have had the right of freedom of association. That is, for commercial purposes, men and women can form partnerships and companies, private and public, without the fear of harassment. However, such equality does not extend to men and women who seek to exercise freedom of association for romantic, love or family ends. Apparently, giving women the right to choose who they spend life with is beyond the imagination of narrow minded egalitarians.
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