Forget the slippery slope – we’re cliff diving now.
After starting SecondWife.com for his fellow Muslims, British entrepreneur Azad Chaiwala received so much interest from the Western world that he started Polygamy.com for people of all faiths.
In a video posted to his website, Chaiwala declared: “Having a marketing background … there’s no such thing as bad publicity … I just see benefit from it, so please help me out.” New York Times Middle East correspondent Ben Hubbard took him seriously, giving Chaiwala much-desired press in the September 20 article: “A Site to Help Get Wedding Bells Ringing and Ringing and Ringing.”
On his bio page, the Muslim entrepreneur discusses his aspirations to “build something more meaningful” after achieving millionaire status at age 21. That, in his own words, is to “change the way we perceive polygamy.” Chaiwala believes it is “the last remaining social taboo but one without, [sic] general society is breaking apart.”
According to Hubbard, Chaiwala says that polygamy “offers a pro-family antidote to promiscuity, prostitution, divorce and broken homes.” This is a tall order to accept, even for tolerant progressives.
But on Polygamy.com’s FAQ page, Chaiwala shuts down the critics with scintillating liberal rhetoric: “What people do in their personal life should not concern anyone else. As long as they are not harming anyone. So essentially live and let live, there's far bigger issues that need their time and attention. And who are they to judge.”
Interestingly enough, Chaiwala’s wife has “concerns” about his intentions to find two additional ladies to occupy their household, according to the Daily Mail. And that is exactly where the logic of polygamist proponents breaks down: polygamy does bring harm to wives.
Unfortunately, although Hubbard had a platform to discuss this, he chose to avoid it. It seems obvious that “first wives” are the victims in polygamist arrangements. This is so much the case that the Canadian Council of Muslim Women has denounced the practice. In an article posted on the CCMW website, staff argue that women in such marriages have expressed feelings of failure, shame, unwanted pity, judgment and even sexual abuse. Mariam Khan, a councillor in the Washwood Heath ward of Birmingham, England, says that the “the modern-day version of looking for a second wife is disrespectful to women, and it is not using the Islamic teaching in a fair way. It ends up in a deteriorating relationship between the husband and first wife.”
Since polygamy is not legally recognized in most countries, it can also lead to problems when a man fails to provide for his several wives and children, and they have no legal recourse to his support. According to Muslim MP Khalid Mahmood, it puts a woman in “huge peril” because she is “not allowed to claim, as a partner, on his estate,” the Daily Mail reported.
But Chaiwala believes that polygamy is “part of our innate nature,” and according to articles from outlets like Fusion, it’s on the upswing.
