Polygamy and its application in Islamic Law

The polygamy, which means a man marriying more than one woman, is also called, Teaddüd-i Zevcat (plurality of wifes) in Islamic law works. The polygamy is as old as the history of humanity. Its history is equivalent to history of family. It has rarely or practically been applied in societies for different reasons such as economy, religion, culture. Polygamy was being practiced in an unrestricted and unjustmanner in Arab geography before Islam. Islam, which attaches great importance to the family and its values as in other matters related to family and marriage, has also revised polygamy and framed it on a legal basis. In its essence, Islamic religion, which recommends monogamy, has not completely prohibited polygamy, rather specified its conditions and limites. However, absence of consensus in terms of jurisprudence and the practices without paying attention to rules and law lead to confusion regarding polygamy, and overtime it has been considered as necessity or unconditionally licit by Muslims. The first official arrangement regarding polygamy was made by Ottoman Empire's 1917 Family Decree, and it has set up an example for other Muslimstates. Today, except Turkey and Tunisia, in predominantly Muslim countries polygamy is applied in a conditional or unconditional manner. Considering that the conditions are not reflected in the practices in general, these polygamy practices are perceived by non-Muslims as Islam's unconditional permission and anti-Islamist propaganda focusing on polygamy is carried out by media. As it is a social phenomen on, the psychological effects of polygamy on family members have also been the subject of research in recent years.