Polygyny is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (polugunía); from Ancient Greek πολύ (polú) 'many' and γυνή (gunḗ) 'woman, wife'.
Polygamy is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at the same time, it is called polyandry. In sociobiology and zoology, researchers use polygamy in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating.
In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. In the case of a person in the process of divorcing their spouse, that person is taken to be legally married until such time as the divorce becomes final or absolute under the law of the relevant jurisdiction. Bigamy laws do not apply to couples in a de facto or cohabitation relationship, or that enter such relationships when one is legally married. If the prior marriage is for any reason void, the couple is not married, and hence each party is free to marry another without falling foul of the bigamy laws.
Conflict of marriage laws is the conflict of laws with respect to marriage in different jurisdictions. When marriage-related issues arise between couples with diverse backgrounds, questions as to which legal systems and norms should be applied to the relationship naturally follow with various potentially applicable systems frequently conflicting with one another.
Marriage law is the body of legal specifications and requirements and other laws that regulate the initiation, continuation, and validity of marriages, an aspect of family law, that determine the validity of a marriage, and which vary considerably among countries in terms of what can and cannot be legally recognized by the state.
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Specifically, polygyny is the practice of one man taking more than one wife while polyandry is the practice of one woman taking more than one husband. Polygamy is a common marriage pattern in some parts of the world. In North America, polygamy has not been a culturally normative or legally recognized institution since the continent's colonization by Europeans.
In Nigeria, Sharia has been instituted as a main body of civil and criminal law in twelve Muslim-majority states since 1999, when then-Zamfara State governor Ahmad Sani Yerima began the push for the institution of Sharia at the state level of government. A "declaration of full Sharia law" was made in the twelve states in that year, and the states created Islamic legal institutions such as a Sharia Commission, and Zakat Commission, and a hisbah. According to some critics, the adoption of Sharia law violates Article 10 of the Nigerian constitution guaranteeing religious freedom.
Polygamy, including polygyny, is outlawed in India. While it was not prohibited in Ancient India and was common among aristocrats and emperors, it is believed that it was not a major cultural practice. The lack of prohibition was in part due to the separation between land laws and religion, and partially since all of the major religions of India portrayed polygamy in a neutral light.
Polygamy is illegal in France and has been the center of recent political debates, due to surges of Malian immigrants living polygamously in the country. Due to such, stricter laws have been enforced to stomp out polygamy.
The practice of what is usually called polygamy, enjoys de facto and de jure legality in Kenya. It is to be understood as polygyny, however.
The Republic of Afghanistan, which is an Islamic Republic under Sharia Law, allows for polygyny. Afghan men may take up to four wives, as Islam allows for such. A man must treat all of his wives equally; however, it has been reported that these regulations are rarely followed. While the Qur'an states that a man is allowed a maximum of four wives, there is an unspecified number of women allowed to be his 'concubines'. These women are considered unprotected and need a man as a guardian.
Polygamous marriages are legally recognized for men in Saudi Arabia, in accordance with Islamic Sharia law, which allows for Muslim men to marry up to four wives, provided that he treats them equally and shares all his wealth equally. However, attitudes towards polygamy in Saudi Arabia have changed in recent decades and became very rare to practice it in the present times.
The legal status of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygamy is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being Muslim-majority countries. Some countries that permit polygamy have restrictions, such as requiring the first wife to give her consent.
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse; while prohibited under Zimbabwean civil law, polygamous marriages may be performed under the country's customary law. Less than one-fifth of the country's population are engaged in polygamy.
The practice of polygamy has had a long history in Kazakhstan, which officially decriminalized the practice in 1998, being the only Central Asian country to do so. Polygamous marriages are not recognized under the law, but bigamy is not a crime. In practice, polygamy is common in Kazakhstan, and is often seen as a sign of a man's social prestige.
Muhammadu Bello Abubahkar Masaba Bida, also known as Mohammed Bello Abubakar, was born in Nigeria. Masaba is known for having stirred up controversy in his hometown Bida, Niger State due to his extensive polygamy, and for being outspoken, he was charged under Sharia law and sent to prison in 2008 for refusing to divorce 82 of his wives. Islam limits the number of wives a Muslim man can have to four, mandating they must be all treated equally. He married 120 wives, divorced 10, and fathered 203 children. At the time of his death in 2017, some of his wives were believed to be pregnant.
The Law of Nigeria consists of courts, offences, and various types of laws. Nigeria has its own constitution which was established on 29 May 1999. The Constitution of Nigeria is the supreme law of the country. There are four distinct legal systems in Nigeria, which include English law, Common law, Customary law, and Sharia Law. English law in Nigeria is derived from the colonial Nigeria, while common law is a development from its post-colonial independence.
Sharia means Islamic law based on Islamic concepts based from Quran and Hadith. Since the early Islamic states of the eighth and ninth centuries, Sharia always existed alongside other normative systems.
Polygamy in Guinea is generally illegal. Polygamy is regulated under the new 2019 family law. The new regulations stipulate that a marriage is presumed to be monogamous; however a couple may legally enter into a polygynous marriage if the groom declares that he is opting for polygyny during the marriage ceremony and the bride gives "explicit consent". The new law is the result of a long legislative battle between those who wanted free polygamy without restrictions and those who wanted a complete ban.
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Specifically, polygyny is the practice of one man taking more than one wife while polyandry is the practice of one woman taking more than one husband. Polygamy is legal in Malaysia in the form of polygyny, that is, between one man and up to four wives. Special permission from an individual state's Syariah Court is required for each marriage after the first by fulfilling the requirements needed by the state's Syariah Law.
