Polygamy 411

Qatar is located in the Middle East peninsula, bordering the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia.

Polygamy rate is low in Qatar.

A study has dismissed as “untrue” the notion that polygamy is a prevalent practice among Qataris, pointing out that the polygamous marriage rate has remained at a low level in the last two decades.

The study, which was released by the Population Committee at the General Secretariat for Development Planning, said the number of Qataris who took only one wife ranged from 89% to 96% in the period between 1997 and 2007.

“During the period covered by the study, the trend was neither declining nor rising. This means that polygamous marriages do not signify a social phenomenon in the country,” the study said.

While the number of men marrying two wives accounted for 3.8% to 8.7% during the years covered by the study, it did not exceed 0.3% for those who have taken three or four wives.

Although Muslim men are permitted to marry up to four women simultaneously, Islam makes it obligatory for those who take more than one wife to deal with them justly. And if the husband is not sure about that, then he is ordained to marry one.

Credit for the above info: Gulf Times, by Anwar Elshamy, 8/31/09