Sharia alert. As I have pointed out many times, this is what makes reform in Islam virtually impossible: when reformers seek to set aside practices such as polygamy, hardliners see it as a transgression of Allah’s will. “Ugandan Muslims March in Defense of Polygamy,” from Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei:
KAMPALA – Hundreds of Ugandan Muslims demonstrated in the capital on Tuesday to protest a proposed restriction on polygamy they see as an affront to their religion.
Under Islamic law, a Muslim man is allowed to take up to four wives, as long as he can provide for all of them equally.
But a domestic relations bill being debated by Uganda’s parliament says Ugandan Muslims should have to seek approval from their first wife before marrying again.
“Islamic law has been there since it was passed on from Allah to the Prophet Mohammed, it cannot be re-written now,” one of the protesters, Bukulu Haruna, told Reuters….
“Other cultures want to overcome Islam, but we will not allow it. People are willing to die so that no one will trample over them,” one demonstrator said.
Human rights campaigners in Uganda have called for polygamy to be banned….
“God gave us guidelines on how marriage should be handled. Telling us how many women we should marry makes the bill ridiculous and infringes on our freedom of worship,” Kampala district Khadi Sheikh Silman Ndilangwa told reporters.
The domestic relations bill, first seen by parliament last year, also
includes proposals on the scrapping of bride-price, one of the requirements of a Muslim marriage….