Majority of Muslims not for polygamy: Poll

Poll on Muslim marriage website reveals majority of Muslims would personally not choose to practise polygamy.

A recent poll by an interactive Muslim marriage website (SingleMuslim.com) revealed that a majority of the Muslims polled believed that they would personally not choose to practise polygamy given the choice.

This group comprised 33.8 per cent of those who responded. A second group, 32.7 per cent said that the Quran allows polygamy but only in exceptional circumstances (58 per cent of respondents to this question were female, 42 per cent male).

Only 26.2 per cent of those who responded believed that polygamy is legal within Islam and that all Muslims have the right to practise it if they choose to (73 per cent of respondents to this question were male, with just 27 per cent of female respondents selecting this view).]

The website SingleMuslim.com has more than 500,000 members seeking potential marriage partners.

"The survey results suggest that there are varying views within the Muslim community as to the extent to which polygamy is permissible," said Adeem Younis, the director of the website. "I'm not an Islamic scholar, but when I read the Qur'an, I interpret that polygamy is permissible only in exceptional circumstances. The poll results show that the majority of Muslims share my view."