Quran allows polygamy, does not encourage it: Delhi court

A maulvi, accused of performing a girl's marriage forcibly with a married man, has been denied anticipatory bail by a Delhi court which said the Sharia law allows polygamy but only under special circumstances.

A maulvi, accused of performing a girl's marriage forcibly with a married man, has been denied anticipatory bail by a Delhi court which said the Sharia law allows polygamy but only under special circumstances.

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The court denied relief to Maulvi Mustafa Raja of Delhi dismissing his arguments that as per the Sharia law, a man is allowed to keep four wives at a time.

“I may observe that even in countries governed by Sharia (Islamic) law, the second marriage is permitted under special circumstances such as an illness of the first wife or her inability to bear children. The Holy Quran permits a Muslim man to marry more than one woman at a time (up to a maximum of four), but does not encourage such behaviour,” Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said.

The court said polygamy is only permitted in certain circumstances including when the husband's death has left his wife with no other means of support.

The girl had managed to escape from Khan's clutches and informed her parents about the incident, it said.

The court, while dismissing the anticipatory bail plea, said the practice of polygamy cannot be encouraged in a liberal democracy like India.