{"id":25560,"date":"2013-01-21T17:09:27","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T13:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=25560"},"modified":"2013-01-21T17:10:53","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T13:10:53","slug":"polygamy-the-answer-to-moroccos-marriage-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-society\/polygamy-the-answer-to-moroccos-marriage-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Polygamy ‘the Answer to Morocco’s Marriage Woes’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"marriage\"<\/a><\/p>\n

According to a recent report in Le Soir, estimates from the Moroccan High Commission For Planning (HCP) found the median age for marriage in Morocco was 31 for men and 27 for women.There are many reasons for this \u2013 more years spent studying, and the high cost of housing and wedding ceremonies being the most obvious. Some, it seems, now want to add monogamy to this list of reasons why young Moroccans are getting married later in life.<\/p>\n

The idea might seem absurd at first, but in a country where rape victims have been forced to marry their rapists, it\u2019s really not so surprising.<\/p>\n

Abdesslam El Bouraini, the president of the National Order of Religious Notaries argues: \u201cThe median age for marriage increases more and more, while women can\u2019t find husbands. So why don\u2019t we modify the polygamy law to allow men to marry several women?\u201d Supply and demand, if you will.<\/p>\n

In Morocco, polygamist marriages are almost non-existent because of strict legal restrictions: a woman has to sign consent, and in case of divorce, assets have to be divided among the wives.<\/p>\n

Fouzia Assouli, the president of the Federation for the Democratic League of Women\u2019s Rights (FLDDF), says El Bouraini\u2019s proposal is \u201cmind-blowing. There is no scientific evidence to support this notion, and it\u2019s a violation of human rights and women\u2019s rights. Celibacy is also a personal choice,” she says.<\/p>\n

What if Morocco faced the opposite situation? \u201cIn Saudi Arabia, women outnumber the men, should we allow them to have several husbands?\u201d asks Assouli. \u201cIf Islam allows it, then it\u2019s for the good of the community, otherwise, it\u2019s an open door to debauchery. The legal restrictions on polygamy have driven men and women to have extra-marital intercourse,\u201d believes El Bouraini.<\/p>\n

If we are to believe him, Morocco\u2019s strict polygamy laws are the reason why men commit adultery. But isn\u2019t excusing adultery and infidelity contrary to the basic principles of Islam? If polygamy was the solution, there wouldn\u2019t be high rates of single people in the countries where it is common.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to a recent report in Le Soir, estimates from the Moroccan High Commission For Planning (HCP) found the median age for marriage in Morocco was 31 for men and 27 for women.There are many reasons for this \u2013 more years spent studying, and the high cost of housing and wedding ceremonies being the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":25564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,337,235,482,73,5],"tags":[16518,16515,16512,16511,16519,16516,16514,116,16520,18334,16513,1808,16517],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}