Grand Imam corrects misconception of polygamy in Islam

What is it that makes a destitute Muslim marry a second woman and ‎leave the first wife and her children to suffer poverty and loss?‎

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Chairman of the Muslim Council of ‎Elders, gives an answer to this question .

Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam, says : , they unanimously consider polygamy as a restricted permission that is prohibited if the prescribed conditions are not fulfilled. On the bitter reality of countless filed lawsuits and aggravating ‎familial tragedies resulting from polygamy.. The jurist ‎schools unanimously agree to the prohibition of first marriage, let alone polygamous ‎marriage, in the case when the husband is unable to provide for his wife.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam, added : An incorrect understanding of the verse: “Marry as you ‎please of (other) women, two, three, or four,” and the related mainstream fatwas constitute a tragedy. Proponents of this issue focus solely on the permissibility of polygamy, ‎and ignore its serious prerequisite, which is ensuring justice and ‎avoiding harm to the first wife. This misunderstanding is the ‎main reason behind polygamy amongst destitute Muslim men who would abandon their first wives, together with their ‎children, who in turn suffer poverty and loss and seek help from relatives. Such a man would feel no qualm about his abusive practice, thus using it for other than its correct purpose and objective.‎