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Plans to open branches of a Malaysian “Polygamy Club” in Indonesia have upset women’s groups and religious leaders in the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation, who say the search for multiple wives should be handled privately — not by a matchmaking service.

Under Islamic law, Muslim men are permitted four wives. The club claims the noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past marrying age meet spouses. It also offers counseling to people facing problems in polygamous households.

The Malaysian founders say they want to “change people’s view of polygamy, so that they will see it as a beautiful rather than abhorrent practice,” club chairwoman Hatijah Binti Am said, as members from about 30 families gathered in Bandung for the opening of the first branch last week. More will open soon, including in Jakarta, said spokeswoman Rohaya Mohamad.

“Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country, so polygamy can be a way of life there, too,” she said.

Polygamous relationships are believed to be gaining in popularity in secular Indonesia, but it’s impossible to say how many there are because the marriages are performed secretly at mosques and are not recorded by the state. Indonesia’s 1974 Marriage Law permits a man to have a second wife if his first is an invalid, infertile or terminally ill. However, there is no way to monitor adherence to the rules.

Polygamists point out that the Prophet Muhammad is thought to have married about a dozen women in his lifetime, including widows in need of protection. But a member of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) described the launching of the club as a “provocative campaign.”

“Such a club is needless,” Ma’ruf Amin said. “It will draw [negative] reactions rather than solve problems” because the practice is generally opposed by women in the country.

Several prominent political and religious figures in Indonesia have openly married second wives in recent years, sparking widespread public debate and calls to disallow polygamy among civil servants. Analysts believe the number of men with multiple wives is increasing as this emerging democracy seeks to balance modern governance and Islamic identity.

Amin said that although Islam allows polygamy, popularizing the practice could encourage multiple marriages in which the husbands fail to adhere to strict guidelines, including fair treatment of all wives and children and equal financial support.

Opposition has also come from women’s rights activists.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, director of the Institute for the Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice, does not oppose men having several spouses, but said the club should not advertise openly.

“If they did it privately, that would be fine,” she said.

However, Yohanna, a member of the same women’s rights group, said the club effectively promotes abuse. “While we are campaigning against domestic violence, which includes polygamy, there is a group campaigning [saying] that polygamy — which hurts other women — is a positive thing,” Yohanna told Metro TV.

The club was founded in Malaysia in August and claims to have around 1,000 members — 700 of them women.



Associated Press