Tehran - The legal commission of the Iranian parliament has
limited the rights of men to polygamy but the new bill has still to
be approved by the country's legislative power, ISNA news agency
reported Monday.
The spokesman of the parliamentary legal commission said that the
new law would only allow men to marry a second wife after getting the
approval of the first wife.
Amin-Hossein Rahimi added that exceptions would only be made if
the first wife left the marriage or was sentenced to a long prison
term.
Under the previous law, a man could marry a second wife without
the approval of his first wife.
The new bill has to be approved by both the parliament and the
Guardian Council, a body in charge of checking the compatibility of
parliamentary bills with Islamic laws.
The new bill, if approved, could be considered a victory for
women. Women activists believe that no wife would voluntarily agree
to a husband's second marriage.
Polygamy has dramatically decreased in Iran in recent years,
especially in urban areas, although according to Islamic laws, men
can have four wives at the same time.
One reason for the decline is the more powerful status of women in
the family and also because many men can no longer afford to keep
more than one wife.
Many women's rights activists consider polygamy a form of
prostitution but Muslim scholars argue that for example widows with
no income would enjoy more respect in Iranian society as second wives
rather than as single women.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story