12-07-2006, 10:38 PM
<b>Cleric's 2nd wife sparks polygamy debate</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->JAKARTA (Reuters) - A popular Indonesian Islamic cleric's decision to take a second wife has sparked a fiery debate about polygamy laws in the world's largest Muslim country where multiple marriages are only banned among civil servants.
The turban-clad but leather-jacketed Abdullah Gymnastiar's announcement prompted the government to consider extending the ban to lawmakers, a move that sent many legislators leaping to the defense of polygamy arguing that it is allowed under Islam.
"If the government wants to regulate polygamy, it has to do it correctly because Islam allows polygamy with some strict conditions," Ichwan Sam, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics, told Reuters.
"There should not be an impression that government regulations or laws are reducing religious teachings."
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<b>"Women tend to be monogamous, that's how their software is. But men, you know ... their software is different," the Jakarta Post quoted Gymnastiar as saying in a sermon when asked if he had married again.
Women's activists say polygamy should be completely banned.
"In our marriage law, our principle is monogamy ... but the law puts polygamy as an exit in the worst situation," Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a leading feminist lawyer and member of parliament, told Reuters.
"For me, polygamy is discrimination or like apartheid. If your husband doesn't like you he can get rid of you."
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The turban-clad but leather-jacketed Abdullah Gymnastiar's announcement prompted the government to consider extending the ban to lawmakers, a move that sent many legislators leaping to the defense of polygamy arguing that it is allowed under Islam.
"If the government wants to regulate polygamy, it has to do it correctly because Islam allows polygamy with some strict conditions," Ichwan Sam, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics, told Reuters.
"There should not be an impression that government regulations or laws are reducing religious teachings."
....
<b>"Women tend to be monogamous, that's how their software is. But men, you know ... their software is different," the Jakarta Post quoted Gymnastiar as saying in a sermon when asked if he had married again.
Women's activists say polygamy should be completely banned.
"In our marriage law, our principle is monogamy ... but the law puts polygamy as an exit in the worst situation," Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a leading feminist lawyer and member of parliament, told Reuters.
"For me, polygamy is discrimination or like apartheid. If your husband doesn't like you he can get rid of you."
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