SALAAM, I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF CLEAR NAIL POLISHER IS HARAM FOR WOMENS. I THINK IT`S NOT HARAM BECAUSE IT`S CLEAR AND IT DOESN`T CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE NAILS, HOWEVER CAN YOU PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION ASAP CUZ I REALLY NEED TO KNOW. AND ALSO IS IT SUNA FOR A MAN TO MARRY FOUR(4) WIVES, I HEARD SO MANY THINGS ABOUT THAT AND SO MANY REASONS WHY A MAN CAN MARRY ANOTHER WIFE WHILE HAVING A WIFE WHO HAS KIDS FOR HIM. I HONEST DON`T UNDERSTAND SO PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS SITUATION. THANK YOU SALAMU ALAIKUM
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF
CLEAR NAIL POLISHER IS HARAM FOR WOMENS. I THINK IT`S NOT HARAM BECAUSE IT`S
CLEAR AND IT DOESN`T CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE NAILS, HOWEVER CAN YOU PLEASE
ANSWER THIS QUESTION ASAP CUZ I REALLY NEED TO KNOW.
AND ALSO IS IT SUNA
FOR A MAN TO MARRY FOUR(4) WIVES, I HEARD SO MANY THINGS ABOUT THAT AND SO MANY
REASONS WHY A MAN CAN MARRY ANOTHER WIFE WHILE HAVING A WIFE WHO HAS KIDS FOR
HIM.
I HONEST DON`T
UNDERSTAND SO PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS SITUATION.
THANK YOU
SALAMU ALAIKUM
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Clear Nail Polish & marry four
times
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Your
Question: I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF CLEAR NAIL POLISHER IS HARAM FOR WOMENS. I
THINK IT`S NOT HARAM BECAUSE IT`S CLEAR AND IT DOESN`T CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE
NAILS, HOWEVER CAN YOU PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION ASAP CUZ I REALLY NEED TO
KNOW.
There is absolutely no restriction and no harm in Islam if
a believing woman wishes to adorn herself and enhance her beauty with the
application of a ‘nail-polish’ (regardless of whether it has color or is
colorless) on her nails, or through the application of make-up or any other
adornments; provided of course that she does not display her fineriy and beauty
to non-mehram males.
The real issue with the application of nail-polish
(regardless of whether it has color or is colorless) is that when applied, it
does not permit the water when doing wudu to reach the nails; therefore it does
not fulfill one of the obligatory requirements of wudu whereby the water must
touch every part of the arms from the fingers upto the elbows inclusive. The scholars in Islam are unanimous in their
opinion that if a woman performs her
wudu and then applies the nail-polish on her nails, there is absolutely no harm
in offering her prayers in that state of wudu.
If and when the believing woman breaks her wudu and wants to do it again
for prayer, she would have to remove the nail-polish at that time to fulfill
the obligatory requirement of the wudu, allowing the water to touch every part
of her arms below her elbows.
Your
Question: AND ALSO IS IT SUNA FOR A MAN TO MARRY FOUR(4) WIVES, I HEARD SO MANY
THINGS ABOUT THAT AND SO MANY REASONS WHY A MAN CAN MARRY ANOTHER WIFE WHILE
HAVING A WIFE WHO HAS KIDS FOR HIM.
I HONEST
DON`T UNDERSTAND SO PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS SITUATION.
(Please note that this is a regular question asked by
believers and non-believers alike, and I have taken the complete answer from a
great scholar and brother whom I sincerely love and respect for his love and
knowledge of Islam, Dr. Zakir Naik of
Islamic Research Foundation, India.)
1.
POLYGAMY
Question:
Why is a
man allowed to have more than one wife in Islam? i.e. why is polygamy allowed
in Islam?
Answer:
Definition of Polygamy Polygamy means a system of marriage whereby one
person has more than one spouse. Polygamy can be of two types. One is polygamy
where a man marries more than one woman, and the other is polyandry, where a
woman marries more than one man. In Islam, limited polygamyy is permitted;
whereas polyandry is completely prohibited.
Now coming to the original question, why is a man allowed to have more than one
wife?
The Qur’an is the only religious scripture in the world that
says,"marry only one".
The
Qur’an is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the
phrase ‘marry only one’. There is no other religious book that instructs men to
have only one wife. In none of the other religious scriptures, whether it be
the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta, the Talmud or the Bible does
one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures
one can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests
and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Many
Hindu religious personalities, according to their scriptures, had multiple
wives. King Dashrat, the father of Rama, had more than one wife.
In
earlier times, Christian men were permitted as many wives as they wished, since
the Bible puts no restriction on the number of wives. It was only a few
centuries ago that the Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Polygyny
is permitted in Judaism. According to Talmudic law, Abraham had three wives,
and Solomon had hundreds of wives. The practice of polygamyy continued till
Rabbi Gershom ben Yehudah (960 C.E to 1030 C.E) issued an edict against it. The
Jewish Sephardic communities living in Muslim countries continued the practice
till as late as 1950, until an Act of the Chief Rabbinate of
Hindus are more polygynous than Muslims
The
report of the ‘Committee of The Status of Woman in Islam’, published in 1975
mentions on page numbers 66 and 67 that the percentage of polygamous marriages
between the years 1951 and 1961 was 5.06% among the Hindus and only 4.31% among
the Muslims. According to Indian law only Muslim men are permitted to have more
than one wife. It is illegal for any non-Muslim in
Let us
now analyse why Islam allows a man to have more than one wife.
Qur’an permits limited polygymy
As I
mentioned earlier, Qur’an is the only religious book on the face of the earth
that says ‘marry only one’. The context of this phrase is the following verse
from Surah Nisa of the Glorious Qur’an:
"Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye
fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one."
[Al-Qur’an 4:3]
Before
the Qur’an was revealed, there was no upper limit for polygamy and many men had
scores of wives, some even hundreds. Islam put an upper limit of four wives.
Islam gives a man permission to marry two, three or four women, only on the
condition that he deals justly with them.
In the
same chapter i.e. Surah Nisa verse 129 says:
"Ye are never able to be fair and just as between
women...."
[Al-Qur’an 4:129]
Therefore
polygamy is not a rule but an exception. It is not an order or
commandment, but rather something which
is permitted. Many people are under
the misconception that it is compulsory for a Muslim man to have more than one
wife.
Broadly,
Islam has five categories of Do’s and Don’ts:
‘Fard’ i.e. compulsory or obligatory
‘Mustahab’ i.e. recommended or encouraged
‘Mubah’ i.e. permissible or allowed
‘Makruh’ i.e. not recommended or
discouraged
‘Haraam’ i.e. prohibited or forbidden
Polygamy
falls in the middle category of things that are permissible. It cannot be said
that a Muslim who has two, three or four wives is a better Muslim as compared
to a Muslim who has only one wife.
Average life span of females is more than that of males
By nature
males and females are born in approximately the same ratio. A female child has
more immunity than a male child. A female child can fight the germs and
diseases better than the male child. For this reason, during the pediatric age itself
there are more deaths among males as compared to the females.
During
wars, there are more men killed as compared to women. More men die due to
accidents and diseases than women. The average life span of females is more
than that of males, and at any given time one finds more widows in the world
than widowers.
World
female population is more than male population
In the
Restricting
each and every man to have only one wife is not practical
Even if
every man got married to one woman, there would still be more than thirty
million females in U.S.A who would not be able to get husbands (considering
that
Suppose
my sister happens to be one of the unmarried women living in
In
Western society, it is common for a man to have mistresses and/or multiple
extra-marital affairs, in which case, the woman leads a disgraceful,
unprotected life. The same society, however, cannot accept a man having more
than one wife, in which women retain their honourable, dignified position in
society and lead a protected life.
Thus the
only two options before a woman who cannot find a husband is to marry a married
man or to become public property. Islam prefers giving women the honourable
position by permitting the first option and disallowing the second.
There are
several other reasons, why Islam has permitted limited polygyny, but it is
mainly to protect the modesty of women.
POLYANDRY
Question:
If a man
is allowed to have more than one wife, then why does Islam prohibit a woman
from having more than one husband?
Answer:
A lot of
people, including some Muslims, question the logic of allowing Muslim men to
have more than one spouse while denying the same ‘right’ to women.
Let me
first state emphatically, that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice
and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different
capabilities and different responsibilities. Men and women are different,
physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are
different. Men and women are equal in Islam, but not identical.
Surah
Nisa’ Chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 gives the list of women with who you can not
marry and it is further mentions in Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verse 24 "Also
(prohibited are) women already married"
The
following points enumerate the reasons why polyandry is prohibited in Islam:
If a man
has more than one wife, the parents of the children born of such marriages can
easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can easily be identified.
In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only the mother of the
children born of such marriages will be identified and not the father. Islam
gives tremendous importance to the identification of both parents, mother and
father. Psychologists tell us that children who do not know their parents,
especially their father undergo severe mental trauma and disturbances. Often
they have an unhappy childhood. It is for this reason that the children of
prostitutes do not have a healthy childhood. If a child born of such wedlock is
admitted in school, and when the mother is asked the name of the father, she
would have to give two or more names! I am aware that recent advances in
science have made it possible for both the mother and father to be identified
with the help of genetic testing. Thus this point which was applicable for the
past may not be applicable for the present.
Man is
more polygamous by nature as compared to a woman.
Biologically,
it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband despite having
several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several husbands, will
not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife. A woman undergoes several
psychological and behavioral changes due to different phases of the menstrual cycle.
A woman
who has more than one husband will have several sexual partners at the same
time and has a high chance of acquiring venereal or sexually transmitted
diseases which can also be transmitted back to her husband even if all of them
have no extra-marital sex. This is not the case in a man having more than one
wife, and none of them having extra-marital sex.
The above reasons are those that one can easily identify. There are probably
many more reasons why Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom, has prohibited polyandry.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your Brother and
sincere well wisher in Islam,
Burhan