Don’t Misinterpret Quran to Have More Than One Wife: Guj HC

Gujarat High Court said the Quran was being misinterpreted by Muslim men to practise polygamy for “selfish reasons”.

When the Quran allowed polygamy, it was for a fair reason: HC (Photo: iStockphoto)

In a strongly-worded order, the Gujarat High Court said on Wednesday the Quran was being misinterpreted by Muslim men to have more than one wife and the provision of polygamy was being misused by them for “selfish reasons”.

The High Court also stated that time has come for the country to embrace the uniform civil code as such provisions are in violation of the Constitution.

The petitioner, Jafar Abbas Merchant, had approached the court to quash an FIR against him filed by his wife who alleged that he got married to another woman without her consent.

In his plea, Jafar, however, claimed that the Muslim Personal Law allows Muslim men to marry four times and hence the FIR against him does not stand legal scrutiny.

When the Quran allowed polygamy, it was for a fair reason. When men use that provision today, they do it for a selfish reason. Polygamy finds mention in the Quran only once, and it is about conditional polygamy.

<b>The Ahmedabad High Court observed</b>