At last, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has 'decreed' that the debate on polygyny be stopped immediately and the matter referred to experts. Who are these "experts", one might ask. Could they be the 'ulama' that Mahathir has so far been showing nothing but contempt for because of their obvious leaning towards the PAS point of view on several matters?

It is obvious that Mahathir's instruction to stop the debate is politically motivated to stop further embarrassment to Barisan Nasional/Umno over such religious issues. Furthermore, the debate seems to be heating up between two 'horses' within the Umno stable itself: Perlis Menteri Besar Shahidan Kassim on one side and Women and Family Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil on the other.

It is also obvious that both parties in the debate are motivated by the desire to win votes for themselves, not by a true understanding of the real teachings of Islam.

Being a MB of a state within the 'Malay heartland' which is in constant danger of being wrested away by PAS, Shahidan is obviously playing up the issue within the larger rubric of the Umno-PAS "holier than thou" game.

He obviously wants to steal the thunder away from PAS' conservative and purist Islamic posture by facilitating the perceived desire of a majority of Muslim men to take more than one wife a practice that conservative Islam in Malaysia has managed to pose as their right and an important part of the teaching of the religion itself.

Shahrizat, on the other hand, speaks from the vantage of middle-class Muslim voters (especially women voters) in the urban milieu. Within that milieu, polygyny is not liked, but because of a shallow understanding of the real teaching of Islam, is grudgingly tolerated nevertheless. Therefore, the act of simplifying the procedure for having multiple wives is looked at with silent contempt at least.

Monogamy preferred

If Mahathir is the knowledgeable Muslim scholar and initiator of the true Islamic state that he always claims to be, he should have been more decisive and told the two warring horses in his stable a thing or two about the real teaching of Islam, especially on the subject of polygyny and on justice and fairness within the Muslim family system.

He should be referring them to the proper and relevant parts of the Quran, and argue that the 'preferred' form of marriage in Islam is not polygyny but monogamy. Polygyny is allowed only under very abnormal social conditions and is not at all encouraged with an offhand attitude, as the MB of Perlis wants us to believe.

Therefore, Shahidan has erred when his state decided to facilitate and simplify the procedure for Muslim men who desire to take a second (or a third, or a fourth) wife simply on the basis of his own erroneous understanding or the erroneous understanding of some conservative ulama who advised him of the teaching of Islam: that polygyny is the preferred form of marriage and that it is such a basic right of Muslim men.

In fact, the state should institute a licensing procedure for Muslim men who want to practise polygyny, to ensure that strict standards of affordability, conditions of justice and fairness, so clearly stipulated in the words of God in the Quran, are met.

Such an initiative, I believe, will go a long way towards the implementation of the true teaching of Islam, and also be a great service towards creating a stable Muslim family and social structure which today suffer from decay and degradation caused by easy divorce and simplified practice of polygyny in this country.

As for Shahrizat, I hope that her argument against Shahidan, and similarly ignorant but powerful Muslim men, in future be more convincing and properly informed by understanding the true essence of the teachings of Islam. It is the words and action of people such as Shahidan and Shahrizat and also of Mahathir that cause Islam to suffer the negative reputation that it has globally today.

ROHANI ZAINAL is a freelance writer of articles and books on reading and publishing.