Another unusual loophole is that many Muslim countries recognize polygamous marriages as long as the husband, before marrying his first wife, informs her that he intends to add more wives and accepts them. If the first wife does not agree, the husband cannot marry any other woman as long as he is married to her. Group marriage is an umbrella term for marriages involving multiple husbands as well as multiple wives. Polyamory is the practice of having multiple romantic relationships, with all parties having complete knowledge and giving full consent. Not related to marriage. Polygeny is the (outdated) theory that the different races of humanity evolved from different ancestral groups. This term has nothing to do with polygamy, but is sometimes confused with “polygyny”, so it is included here for clarity. This image shows seven wives of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Polygamy is a practice in which a person is married to more than one person at a time, most often to a man with several wives. Polygamy is often based on traditional cultural practices or religious beliefs. Constitutionally, polygamy raises important issues under the First Amendment clause. In considering these issues, the Supreme Court has sought to distinguish the regulation of religious beliefs from the regulation of practices. (Image via Library of Congress, public domain) 13.
In December 2013, a federal judge, encouraged by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups,[10] struck down parts of Utah`s bigamy law that criminalized cohabitation, while recognizing that the state can still enforce prohibitions on multiple marriage licenses. [11] The state of Utah appealed the decision, arguing that polygamist Kody Brown was not allowed to file a civil suit because his district attorney, Jeff Buhman, did not intend to sue the Brown family. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth District (Denver) sided with Utah and overturned the previous decision, recriminalizing polygamy as a crime. [12] Polygamy is the general and neutral term for any marriage between three or more people. Polygyny is a specific term used to describe a marriage involving a husband and at least two wives. It is by far the most common (and commonly legal) form of polygamy. Polyandry is a specific term used to describe marriages between a woman and at least two husbands.
Islam is the only major religion whose sacred texts arguably advocate polygamy. Verse 3 of Sura 4 An-Nisa (women) explains that under certain (and disputed) circumstances, a man can marry up to four wives. According to this text, many Muslim countries allow a man to have up to four wives. However, many also require the man to indicate whether he plans to be monogamous or polygamous under the marriage contract with his first wife, and if she does not allow it, he cannot marry another woman as long as he is married to her. In addition, polyandry, in which a wife has several husbands, is still strictly prohibited. Many prominent Jewish leaders, including Abraham, David, and Jacob, are described in the Torah as polygamous/plural marriages. However, like all but a few contemporary Christians (whose Old Testament mirrors the Torah), modern Jews have denied this practice. Reynolds and Davis established a court-developed definition of religion that distinguished faith from practice, while maintaining laws prohibiting polygamy, which many considered an evil similar to slavery (the issue had delayed Utah`s accession to the Union). The question raised in these cases was: Should society tell a religious sect not to voluntarily engage in polygamy if the members honestly and sincerely believe that polygamy is prescribed by the Bible or other religious texts? The Court answered a similar question in Sherbert v.
Verner (1963), in which she overturned a denial of unemployment benefits to a Seventh-day Adventist who had been fired for refusing to work on Saturday, her Sabbath.