THE INHERENT PROBLEMS in POLYGAMOUS MARRIAGE

Marriage is an institution, which has been ordained by God, the creator. According to the scripture, when God created Adam, the first man on the earth, he also created Eve to serve as his companion. Over the years, there have been controversies surrounding the issue of polygamous marriage in the society.

Advocates of polygamous marriage are arguing that there are more females than male in the society and that if man is allowed to marry only one wife, many females may not marry until death, which may encourage prostitution in the society. There is another argument that when a man is having many wives, such wives can assist him in farming, particularly in African countries where subsistence farming is still being practiced. There are also those who share the believe that many wives widen the scope of enjoyment of the husband in terms of sexual intercourse and eating varieties of food.

From religious angle, followers of Islamic religion are contending that there is no sin in having more than one wife provided the husband is having adequate financial resources to cope with the demands of it. Today, the religion thus supports a maximum of four wives for a man.

The issue of polygamous marriage is having several implications. There is the argument that if a man is having more than one wife, it means he has to overstress himself through sexual intercourse, which can lead to weakness of the body. It is also being argued that many wives mean many problems. Such husband would face many problems from the wives daily, which if care is not taken can lead to his premature death. In a polygamous family, there is usually competition among the wives and children, which in most cases do lead to hatred, envy and at times, spiritual killing.

One of the problems of many countries in the world today is overpopulation. Many countries are having more citizens relative to the available resources. It is however, of note that where a man is allowed to marry more than one wife, more children would be produced, which would go a long way in increasing the population of these countries.

In some cases, where polygamy is not properly managed, some of the wives can opt for divorce or separation thus making the children to be separated from the father. At the end, due to inadequate parental care, such children can enlist in social vices like prostitution, stealing, and armed robbery among others.