POLYANDRY

Question:
If a man is allowed to have more than one wife(Polyandry), 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 An Nisa’ Chapter 4 Verses 22 – 24 gives the
list of women with who you cannot marry and it
is further mentioned in Surah An Nisa’ Chapter
4 Verse 24 “Also (prohibited are) women already
married…”

The following points enumerate the reasons why
polyandry is prohibited in Islam:

1. 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.
2. Man is more polygamous by nature as compared
   to a woman.
3. 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.
4. 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.