70% of American Muslims Say US Should Impose Sharia: Legalized Polygamy

“I believe the government should legalize polygamy because it is lawful in Islam. It would enable all the wives to have the same legal status." -- Muslima in an Islamic polygamous marriage

…nearly 70 percent said they believe that the U.S. should legalize polygamy…42 percent of those surveyed said they were either in, or knew others in polygamous marriages within the local Muslim community. Thirty nine percent said they would engage in a polygamous marriage if it were legal in the United States.

Islamic supremacism on the march in America. Just as the Muslim Brotherhood groups in the US, like Hamas-linked CAIR, exploited the the black experience in America to impose Islam on the secular marketplace by playing the civil rights card. They are now using the "gay marriage" narrative to legalize multiple wives under the sharia. Read it all.

I have written on Muslim polygamy in the US here. And here: 100,000 US Muslims engage in polygamy.

What's next? Child brides? That is sanctioned under the sharia. That's an "alternative lifestyle" sanctioned by Islam and "religious freedom under the Constitution." Honor killings? Clitorectomies? All sanctioned under the sharia, and as Ground Zero mosque Imam Rauf reminded us in his book, you cannot cherry-pick the sharia. It's all or .........

In his own book from 2000, "Islam: A Sacred Law," he wrote this on p. 58: "And since a Shari'ah is understood as a law with God at its center, it is not possible in principle to limit the Shari'ah to some aspects of human life and leave out others."

Survey: 70% of Muslims say U.S. should legalize polygamy MuslimLink.com via creeping

As Legal Marriage Is Redefined, Some Muslim Call for Decriminalizing Polygamy

The legalization of gay marriage in six states and the continued efforts toward legalizing it in the rest of the country has opened the flood gates that have, for hundreds of years defined legal marriage in the United States as the union between one man and one woman.

As more proponents of gay marriage push bills through Congress and rally votes that support marriage as a constitutional right for all citizens regardless of sexual orientation another group that remains decidedly outside the legal confines of marriage is slowly entering the limelight.

Over 130 years ago a decision was made that criminalized the practice of polygamy in the United States.

Despite the redefinition of legal marriage to include homosexual couples, the country still grapples at the idea of polygamy, a commonly misunderstood primarily religiously based practice.

With an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people living in polygamous situations in the U.S. today, few have seen their actions reprimanded in court. This is likely because many live in secrecy out of fear that exposure of their practices will result in loss of jobs, break apart their families, or land them in jail. However, even in cases where polygamy is known, few states move to actually prosecute the individuals involved.

While some choose to quietly live their lives as they please, married legally only to one woman but to others only through religious ceremonies, there are murmurs among the polygamist community as the country moves toward the legalization of gay marriage.

Just as the gay community has fought for equal treatment under the law, polygamists argue the same. As citizens of the United States, they argue, they should have the right to legally marry whoever they please, or however many they please.

In the same regard that the gay community faced stark opposition from religious organizations that diligently fought, and continue to fight the idea of gay marriage on religious grounds, polygamists communities face similar religious stigmas.

While the U.S. Constitution boasts a separation of church and state, which ultimately helped the gay community overcome the opposition, it also guarantees the free exercise of religion which has somewhat ironically been the biggest obstacle for the polygamist community.

Because polygamy is considered a derivative of certain religious beliefs it would logically seem as though the practice of polygamy would then be protected under constitutional law. However, this is not the case, and has not been since Reynolds vs. United States in 1978 in which the court refused to recognize polygamy as a legitimate religious practice. Instead, it was deemed it as “almost exclusively a feature of the life of Asiatic and African people.” Later decisions showed no progress in accepting polygamy as a legitimate religious practice despite its longstanding historic presence in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Instead the court declared it to be “contrary to the spirit of Christianity and of the civilization which Christianity has produced in the Western World,” equating it to a type of barbarism.

Many argue that polygamy is an exception to the free exercise of religion because known cases of polygamous marriages of young girls. This cast a shadow on the practice and many ignorantly equated it with pedophilia. Recent attacks on the Prophet Muhammad also equated his marriage to Aisha, who was nine at the time, as an act of pedophilia. In cases where religious practices are deemed harmful to individuals or to the public, the free exercise of religion no longer applies.

While Islam itself does not condone acts of homosexuality and though the mainstream Muslim community remains largely uninvolved with polygamy in the United States, there are a minority who still engage in the practice though largely in secrecy for fear of retribution. While some masajids require legal proof of marriage prior to granting an Islamic marriage, some Imams’ like Baltimore city’s Hassan Amin believe polygamy to be a god-given right that cannot be denied to those who are willing and able despite the potential legal ramifications.

“I don’t have any problem with that because it’s Deen. I’m doing it for religion,” said Amin who admits to performing polygamous marriages.

Amin, a sociology instructor at Sojourner-Douglass College of Baltimore regularly discusses polygamy in his classroom. Not only does he note its religious significance but the benefits it can have in American society, particularly in areas like Baltimore city where the poverty rate is high and many women find themselves on the welfare roll.

“We have in the world more women than men and if a man has the ability to take care of more than one women he should be able to do that,” said Amin. “As far as legalization, I think they should...We should strive to have it legalized because Allah has already legalized it.”

While Amin feels strongly about the good polygamy can do for the community, others feel as though the issue of polygamy is one that should remain in a historical context.

“The family institution in the U.S, whether it is Muslim or non-Muslim, is very delicate. The idea of having many partners and many, many children who are neglected or whose needs will not be met fully or even who will compete for gains is not a healthy one in this society. This society is full of much corruption without the addition of internal corruption. It is allowed in Islam, I do not argue this fact. Our Prophet allowed this but in today’s time we do not have the pure intentions and love for one another as they did in the past,” said one individual in a recent survey on polygamy conducted by The Muslim Link.

Approximately 42 percent of those surveyed said they were either in, or knew others in polygamous marriages within the local Muslim community. Thirty nine percent said they would engage in a polygamous marriage if it were legal in the United States.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, having been part of a polygamous relationship for fourteen years expressed her support for the institution arguing its ability to solve many moral ailments that plague today’s society.

“I believe the government should legalize polygyny because it is lawful in Islaam. It would enable all the wives to have the same legal status...As a matter of fact, I have discussed the issue with many non-Muslim women as well. The majority of them say that if polygyny was conducted the way that it is supposed to be according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah, they would have no problem with it. It is much better than committing adultery, fornication and having illegitimate children,” she wrote in response to the survey.

Born and raised in Christian family, she married a non-Muslim man at the age of twenty-two. One year later both her and her husband converted to Islam. They lived in a mongomous marriage for nine years before her husband approached her about marrying a second wife.

“When my husband told me that he wanted to marry another woman we discussed the issue and the three of us met and had discussions as well.  There was a public nikah and waleemah at our masjid, and the whole community, including our children and [I], attended,” she said.

Though the second marriage ended in divorce after fourteen years, it ended on good terms.

Although those who said they would engage in polygamy if it were legal are the minority, nearly 70 percent said they believe that the U.S. should legalize polygamy now that it is beginning to legalize gay marriage.

As for opinions on whether or not Imams, like Amin should be allowed to conduct polygamous marriages despite polygamy being illegal in the United States, the results were almost split right down the middle with approximately 54 percent against the idea.

Polygamy is arguably not the most popular practice in the United States and even within religious communities where polygamy had an undeniable historical significance. However, the First Amendment was meant to protect even the least popular of practices on the basis that though they may not appeal to the general public, their existence and the rights therein should and will always be protected under constitutional law.

Still, some feel as though the Muslim community should be focused on fighting to protect the rights that they do have rather than rallying behind ones that could send the wrong message.

“We also need to consider that legalizing an issue makes it “okay” in a lot of people’s minds. If polygamy were okay, people who don’t understand it’s conditions may enter into such relationships that could prove very unhealthy, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. The issue of polygamy is not fully understood by our own Muslim community for it to be taken to the U.S. government. I really think we should focus on fighting for the rights we currently are guaranteed under law but are not always granted,” wrote one young woman.

While anti-sodomy laws outlined in Lawrence vs. Texas were brought down and with them the ability to criminalize the acts of homosexuals in the United States, polygamists must still face the reality that their marriages cannot be made legal so long as the decision of Reynold vs. United States stands.

As states move toward legalizing gay marriage, the criminalization of polygamy is a seemingly striking inconsistency in constitutional law.

As for the American Muslim community and the practice of polygamy, Amin believes it is the responsibility of the Muslim leadership to represent its benefits both religiously and socially.

“As an Imam I have a responsibility to put Islam out there in all its beauty and glory. Even if I stand alone in doing this, Islam has be be out there and more imams have to stand up for Islam,” he said.

Though he doesn’t believe it is a necessary practice for everyone and notes that only those able to practice polygamy within the rules laid out in Islamic teaching should consider engaging in it, Amin feels its a reality that the American Muslim community should not hide or feel embarrassed by.

For those who disagree with him he simply quoted a passage from the Qur’an, “Lakum deenukum waliyadin,” For you your way, for me mine.”

The argument remains, be it gay marriage or polygamous marriage, the rights of the people should not be based on their popularity but rather on the constitutional laws that are meant to protect them.

Comments

[Acai Berry Cleanse]

I'm not asking for the reasons why it is permitted in Islam so don't waste your time copying and pasting large pieces of text.

[gsw]

Will the muslims also agree to polyandry? Will homosexuals also be permitted more than one legal partner?

The whole thing is not only silly, it is unnecessary.
Since muslims know that only their god can make laws, the islamic wedding is the real one and this already permits 4 wives - but only one husband.

US civil weddings mean nothing to true believers in islam, so the fuss is just to try to force a little more islam and a little less US law.

[Marylou]

Do you expect me to believe that girl babies and boy babies are conceived in virtually equal proportion by every other people group on earth, but 4:1 by muslims? Maybe if muslim men would stop blowing themselves and each other up there would be enough to go around.

[Crombouke]

Polygamy has always been one of the main driving forces behind the spread of Islam. It enables one Muslim man to marry multiple kuffar women (never the other way round!) and produce vast numbers of Muslim offspring.

Not only that, but within Muslim communities wealthy older men acquire the youngest brides (often young cousins), with polygamy ensuring that young women are always in short supply for impoverished young men. In traditional Muslims societies, by the time the average Muslim male has reached adolescence all the girls have been sold to old lechers. This gives the Muslim males four choices...

(1) Stay faithful to Mrs Hand and her five daughters. However masturbation is a sin, so it's preferable to...
(2) Die while killing infidels so you get into Allah's brothel in the sky and have eternal sex with 72 virgins
(3) Rape anything that's available- usually Kafir girls (Raping a Kafir woman or girl isn't a sin - they're uncovered meat and asking for it)
(4) Go for young boys. Although homosexuality between grown men is a sin, it's OK to enjoy a boy provided he's still beardless ('Bacha bereesh' - pre-pubescent boys are classed as females.)

More at http://crombouke.blogspot.com/2010/01/islam-is-powered-by-muslim-sexual.html

[Jamie]

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but if I remember my history lessons correctly, didn't the the Mormon church have to give up that practice so that the TERRITORY of Utah could become the STATE of Utah? If so, why would be OK, for the government to ban it for one religion (while at the same time, all other religions), and then turn around years later and say, "OK, you Muslims can do this now"? If polygamy is going to be allowed, wouldn't they allow the Mormons to take up the practice again (if they so choose)?

[prestigio]

moslems call for
decriminalizing what
is compliant with sharia

how nice

i call for criminalizing
islam

[Bloodless Coup]

How about this as a counter proposal. If you want to live in a country that is under Sharia Law and that allows polygamy and the oppression of women, MOVE TO THE MIDDLE EAST!!!

If you want to live in a democratic republic under our laws, customs, and traditions, stay here and assimilate.

Those are your choices.

[Claire Solt PhD]

I am concerned that we are being buried in hair splitting, mind numbing legalism that violates the tradition of common law. The main objection I have to American judges claiming to adjudicate disputes according to sharia law is that they have no training or wisdom in that. Stick to American law in American courts.

I get increasingly cynical about laws to regulate marriage. The church instituted procedures to avoid fraud, but the states just collect the fees and offer very expensive divorces in the event of failure. Who needs that?

Good law follows morality but should not try to create it. Even the Norman invaders knew the folly of this in 1066.

[Walter Sieruk]

On the subject of polygymy it should be noted that the God of the Bible has not sanctioned this practice. For example, God gave Adam one wife. It the New Testiment it reads "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife..." Matthew 19:5. Jesus said "wife" not wifes.
Nevertheless,there are some people who will act as apologist for polygymy by saying that King Davied and then King Solomom did practice this. Such people arn't taking inti account that the only reason that God did tolerate this tradition was not because it as right or that He approved of it. It was because this practice of have many wifes was such an entreched custom in the ancient Middle East at that time that God allowed it for the above mentioned kings. This did not mean that this custom was to keep on going in time.

[madrussian]

Good grief! I have no interest in having even one wife, why in hell would anyone want up to four?

[just give it away .. george strait]

the second marriage ended in divorce after fourteen years, it ended on good terms.

seriously, how could anything go wrong with,
"i divorce you, i divorce you, i divorce you"

seems easy enough to me - alimony, child support, just kinda works itself out, huh?
prolly a got huge food pantry right there at the mosk - no need for any taxpayers money. no continued cloward-piven or nothing...

[John K]

@ Crombouke

That's correct. The article has a typo. It's supposed to be the 1878 Supreme Court decision on Reynolds v. United States, not 1978.

The Mormon Church will not participate in legalized polygamy because of its modern association with depravity and criminality. Any members of the church practicing polygamy, even in countries where it is currently legal, are excommunicated.

[Born Free]

Criminalize Polygamy

Is anyone surprised that the media airs a television series on Polygamy and presented it as acceptable? This is how the Progressives work to brainwash society.Anyone surprised that we allow people practicing polygamy to immigrate to our country? This is how the Progressives work to undermine our society.

Progressives work with Islamists to dilute the sacrament of marriage.The following excerpt is from a 2008 National Public Radio story:

"No one knows how many Muslims in the U.S. live in polygamous families. But according to academics researching the issue, estimates range from 50,000 to 100,000 people.

You can see some of the women involved in polygamous marriages in the lobby of Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit women's center in New York City. It bursts with color as a dozen women in bright African dresses and head wraps gather for a weekly noon meeting for West African immigrants. The women come each week to this support group where they discuss hard issues, such as domestic abuse, medical problems, immigration hurdles and polygamy.

Polygamy is freely practiced in parts of Africa, and almost every one of the women in the group has experienced polygamy firsthand – either as a wife in a plural marriage or having been raised in families with one father who has two or more wives.

Group member Sarah says that in her native Guinea, the husband springs it on his wife that he's going to marry someone else. Sarah, like the others interviewed for this story, would give only her first name.

"Sometimes he say, 'OK, I am going to be married tomorrow,' or 'I'm going to be married today.' He's going ask you like that. It happened to me," she says.

Sarah begins to cry. Others nod in sympathy. These women are all Muslim. The Koran states that men may marry up to four women. The Prophet Mohammad had multiple wives.

But there's a restriction, says Sally, another group member. The husband cannot favor one woman over another – with his wealth or his heart. "You have to love them the same way, share everything the same way, equally," says Sally. "Nobody can do that. It's impossible."

Still, Muslims practice polygamy in the U.S., despite state laws prohibiting it. Here's how a man gets around the laws: He marries one woman under civil law, and then marries one, two or three others in religious ceremonies that are not recognized by the state. In other cases, men marry women in both America and abroad.

Many women keep quiet for fear of retribution or deportation….

'Legally, they're invisible,' says Julie Dinnerstein, a senior attorney for Sanctuary for Families. 'If you are the second or third or fourth wife, that marital relationship is not going to be recognized for immigration purposes. It means if your husband is a citizen or green card holder, he can't sponsor you. It means if your husband gets asylum, you don't get asylum at the same time. The man is always going to be in a position of greater power.'"

You can read the rest of this article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90857818

[alyn21]

Legalizing Gay marriage has opened the door to every kind of perversion imagineable.
Unless we turn back the clock and run our societies on traditional values we are finished.
The Islamic problem is only 1 small part of what ails our society.

[KKKK]

this is preciously WHY AMerica should not legalize polognoy. i cannot imagine sharring my husband's affections with other wives. and as for sharia, it id absolutely ludircious and insane. it endorses many horrific and insane punishments for such "crimes" as blasphmey of Mo and apostasy from islam.

[ARNOLD CARL TAPP]

>>> NEWT GINGRICH PRODUCED A FILM CALLED " BAN SHARIAH ", AND EVERY AMERICAN MUST WATCH IT AND BECOME AWARE OF WHAT THESE FOREIGN , DANGEROUS , SUBVERSIVE INFILTRATORS HAVE PLANNED FOR AMERICA.
" WE THE PEOPLE " LOVE AMERICA JUST THE WAY IT WAS CREATED, AND THAT AUTOMATICALLY EXCLUDES AND ELIMINATES ALL THINGS ISLAMIC. SEND THEM BACK TO HELL FROM WHENCE THEY CAME. ALL MUSLIMS MUST BE DEPORTED OUT OF AMERICA, EVEN IF THEY WERE BORN HERE, SINCE WE NEVER KNOW WHICH ONE OF THEM WILL ATTACK US NEXT OR MAKE OUTRAGEOUS, UNREASONABLE DEMANDS.

[karl anglin]

If they want sharia let them go the Middle East!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[No dhimmi fool]

Sure, we can legalize polygamy, which means "many spouses," not "many wives."

"Many wives" is "polyGYNY," while "polyANDRY" is "many husbands."

If polyGAMY is legalized, women could have as multiple husbands as well.

Or, one can stay unmarried and engage in polyAMORY, which is "many loves."

Then there's the option of celibacy, which would really be the best thing Muslim men could do.

[Sr]

Cold war paranoia lives!

[Bethany]

I just hope that in all of your "othering rhetoric," you take time to realize that all organized religion has its flaws and so do human beings. Nobody is perfect. I am a Muslim. I was born here and my family background is Norwegian. I was raised Christian and converted to Islam because I thought it was beautiful how I could greet someone with "Peace be upon you" and not be ostracized as someone is Christianity would be if they were to say the same thing. They would be labeled a "Jesus Freak." Islam is peaceful. Keep in mind that the Sharia you see as hateful is interpreted by imperfect human beings. Buying a halal turkey is not forcing Sharia any more than buying a discounted Filet-O-Fish at McDonald's during lent is forcing Catholocism. I wish your blog was more peaceful and also included some positive things about Muslims. I am sure that if you and I met on the street, we would get along just fine. I have friends from every walk of life:Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Athiest, Buddhist and Hindu, among many. Here is how I see God, Allah, or whatever you would like to call our creator: As a mom, there is nothing my children could do to cause me to want to cast them into Hellfire. God loves us all more than a mother's love or anyone we could even imagine. God is not going to cast us into Hellfire because we are not Muslim, Christian, etc. We all need to listen to our common sense.I do not prosyletize. I hate that act. I believe in: To you be your way and to me be mind. Spirituality is such a personal journey. We should all be able to have our own personal journies without fear. Of course you have the right to your observations and opinions, but please, do not write with fear or hatred.

[george]

Islam is for the ignorant and like some other religions has proven to be a cancer on society and retarding the development of the human condition. A man that takes a 9 yr old girl to be his wife is just plan sick and evil period! To follow one like that one has to be out of their mind. The act of having more than one wife is degrading to all woman and gives them the status of being property rather than an equal human being. Shame on all who follow Mohammend {SHIT be upon him}

[tim hargaves]

Get it right, there not suggesting it they will demand it in the future once they get a political footing, if they dont already have it... The GOP blames the Dems and so on and so on.. Both are guilty of letting these 3rd wotld Morons in.. They could care less about our laws or constitution, it is legal in their moronic society to hump Camels and each other analy everyday and then piss on America, burn our flag while they watch our tv shows, drink our cokes and beer and wait for our own laws to aid them.

Get them the hell outta of here NOW, Mexicans should not be our first eviction

A VET