Sponsored link.

	One man and two or more women participating in a marriage-like commitment ceremony.
	Five adults engaging in a ritual to sign an agreement to create an intentional community.
	A group of university students of both genders signing a joint lease on a house in a student ghetto, in the expectation that some sexually active relationships may well develop among the group.
	A man who is married to one woman and has carried on a long-term adulterous relationship with another.

Polygamy has been openly practiced in British Columbia (BC) for many decades by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints (FLDS), which is a small faith group that broke away from the main Mormon group, The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• In predominately Islamic countries, Most Muslim authorities interpret the sayings of Muhammad as permitting men to marry up to four wives each, as long as he can treat them equally and be able to afford a reasonable quality of life for all. They have patterned this belief on the life of the prophet Muhammad who founded Islam. He married four women during his lifetime. However, some Muslim clerics consider that Muhammad's example is a special case and that polygamy is only acceptable under unusual circumstances. They regard Muhammad's decision to have multiple wives legitimate because he had married the widows of his comrades who had died during battles.

Polygyny -- the marriage of one man and multiple women -- continues to be practiced in many predominately Muslim countries. However, such marriages remain in a minority. Polyandry -- the marriage of one woman and multiple men -- is forbidden.

• Norway, Britain, and some other European countries are making some allowances for the practice of polygyny among their Muslim families. Most of them had been married in North Africa, the Middle East, or the Far East and later immigrated to the West -- some as regugees.
  
  
• In Malaysia, thousands of Muslim husbands successfully applied to Shariah courts to marry a second or subsequent wife between 2010 and 2016.
  

There have been concerns in the country about wives and children in polygamous families being poorly treated. Datuk Wee Jeck Seng, a member of the Parliament of Malaysia, asked the Prime Minister for statistics on polygamy broken down by states.

Jamil Khir Baharom of the Prime Minister’s Department responded, saying that:

"Based on the record of Shariah courts across Malaysia, 8,808 cases of applications from husbands who are eligible and capable have been given permission to polygamy between 2010 and 2016." ₆

Among the states of Malaysia, there are varied requirements before a license can be issued. Some states have no limitations. Others stipulate conditions, like:

"The proposed marriage must be just and necessary; the husband must have sufficient financial means; the husband will accord equal treatment to the existing wife or wives; and the proposed marriage will not cause danger or harm to the existing wife.

• In the UK, an unusual event occurred during late 2011. Emily DiSanto, 25, an American neopagan woman, became pregnant, came to Britain on a visitor's visa, and started to live with the father-to-be and his wife. All three are neopagans and worship a pantheon of Norse deities including Odin and Thor. The court learned that the Caulfields were no longer living as "man and wife" but are sharing a home together. The religious beliefs of the married couple, Alan and Anne-Marie Caulfield, prohibit divorce. Government officials denied Emily's request to stay in the country. She appealed the decision twice and finally won her case on the basis that forcing her to return to the U.S. would violate her human right to a family life. A government spokesperson said:

  "We are disappointed by the court’s decision in this case. For too long Article 8 has been used to place the family rights of immigration offenders above the rights of the British public. This is why we will change the immigration rules to reinforce the public interest in seeing those who have breached our immigration laws removed from this country." ₇

  It is unclear exactly what rights of the British public were bent out of shape by the three adults living together with their two children.

References used:

1. "Unofficial versions of the Criminal Code of Canada, sections 279 to 317," at: http://lois.justice.gc.ca/
2. "Polygamy in Canada: Hunting Bountiful. Ending a half a century of exploitation," The Economist, 2004-JUL-8, at: http://www.economist.com/
3. Lena Sin, "Polygamy in Canada stretches beyond Bountiful," Canwest News Service, 2009-JAN-08, at:  http://www.nationalpost.com/
4. Brian Hutchinson, "Polygamy and the legal wrangling that surrounds it. Blackmore case tests constitutional law," National Post, 2009-JAN-09, at: http://www.nationalpost.com/
5. "Let's talk about polygamy," National Post, 2009-JAN-09, at: http://www.nationalpost.com/
6. Rafiq A. Tschannen, "Over 8,000 polygamy applications given green light since 2010: Malaysia ," 2017-APR-08, at: https://themuslimtimes.info/
7. David Barrett & Claire Duffin, "Pagan wins 'family life' human rights case," The Telegraph, 2011-DEC-18, at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Copyright © 2006 to 2017 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2006-AUG-20
Latest update: 2017-MAR-20
Author: B.A. Robinson

Sponsored link

Go to the previous page, or to the Polygamy menu, or the FLDS/Canada menu, or choose:

Web ReligiousTolerance.org

Page Translator: This page translator works on Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari browsers only After translating, click on the "show original" button at the top of this page to restore page to English.