Nigerian faces death for 86 wives

[Idris16]

Nigeria's Islamic authority has told the man who has 86 wives to choose only four and repent within three days or else he will be sentenced to death.

The Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) passed their verdict on Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, according to Sharia law.

This comes two weeks after the Nigerian press and the BBC reported on the case.

Talking to the media then, Mr Abubakar challenged Muslim scholars, saying there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.

However, Mr Abubakar advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women.

No limit

The former teacher and Muslim preacher lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, and says he is able to cope only with the help of God.

"A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC.

Most Muslim scholars agree that a man is allowed to have four wives, as long as he can treat them equally.

But Mr Bello Abubakar told the BBC: "To my understanding the Koran does not place a limit and it is up to what your own power, your own endowment and ability allows.

"God did not say what the punishment should be for a man who has more than four wives, but he was specific about the punishment for fornication and adultery."

Niger is one of the Muslim majority states to have reintroduced Sharia punishments since 2000.

Several people have been sentenced to death for adultery by Sharia courts but none of these sentences have been carried out.

 

[TheHumbleWun]

Salaam,

I think the brother is a little delusional & illogical.

The Quran specifically limits men to 4 wives, and it's allowed in very rare circumstances (i.e. times of war, the woman can't reproduce, etc). What's the reason for 86? There might not be punishment in this world but perhaps in the next! Why risk that. Too much hope and little fear.

Besides, why stop at 86? What's the purpose? A man can barely handle himself let alone 86?? It doesn't make sense at all.

May Allah guide him on the right path.

 

[Idris16]

Ameen.

the quran said only 4 wives. if more, then 5,6,7th wife isnt your wife. then it means he commited zina.

 

[TheHumbleWun]

Salaam,

You're right.

The Quran is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the phrase 'marry only one'. There is no other religious book that instructs men to have only one wife. In none of the religious scriptures like the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta or the Bible does one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures one can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.


"Marry woman of your choice in twos' threes' or fours' but if ye FEAR that ye shall not be able to deal justly, (with them), then only one" ( Quran,4:3)

Even if someone was to marry four, they must do so on the condition of being just. And Allah states:

"It is very difficult to be just and fair between women" (Quran, 4:129)

 

[ShyHijabi]

Salaam,

I don't believe the Quran actually states how many wives someone can have, rather I believe it is addressed in the Hadiths, correct? Please provide the aya where four wives are stated in the Quran. This situation is very tricky now, this man has prodiced children with many of these women, what is to become of the women and the offspring? Who will care for them?

There is no doubt this brother broke the law according to the Shariah but it seems the gvenrment waited too long to intercept. Why not do this when he had 5 wives, or 12, or30? Now there will be many children declared illegitimate and women accused of zina. (who frankly may not have even known about the limitation) Honestly I have no idea what the right answer is, I just feel so bad for these children and their mothers.

Wasalaam

~Sarah

 

[ShyHijabi]

Salaam,

You're right.

The Quran is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the phrase 'marry only one'. There is no other religious book that instructs men to have only one wife. In none of the religious scriptures like the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta or the Bible does one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures one can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests and the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.


"Marry woman of your choice in twos' threes' or fours' but if ye FEAR that ye shall not be able to deal justly, (with them), then only one" ( Quran,4:3)

Even if someone was to marry four, they must do so on the condition of being just. And Allah states:

"It is very difficult to be just and fair between women" (Quran, 4:129)

I stand corrected, thank you brother for providing that verse.

 

[Zaynab123]

:salam2:

And that means even the womens also commited Zina excep the first four, :astag: the should repent. some women are animals, i can't believe they would marry a man with more than four and he can't even give all of them something and be fair with them and their childeren. walahi it drives me crazy.:angryred:

 

[TheHumbleWun]

I stand corrected, thank you brother for providing that verse.

You're welcome. This is the background to the verse.

The Purpose of Verse 4:3​

Noble Verse 4:3 was revealed to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him in Madina after he migrated to it from Mecca and established an Islamic state there right after the battle of Uhud in which the Muslims not only had lost badly against the Pagans, but also suffered a dramatic decrease in the number of Muslim men. The Muslim men before that battle were approximately 700. They became only 400 after the battle. This loss had left so many Muslim women (1) Widows, and (2) Not able to get married if they were single.

To make matters even worse, the Muslims had faced yet another battle against the Pagans in Mecca and its neighboring tribes who wanted to attack the Muslims in Madina to finish off Islam once and for all, and by the Jews and the Christians in Madina who betrayed the Muslims in the "battle of Trench" after signing a defense treaty with Muhammad peace be upon him against the Pagans.

All praise due to Allah Almighty. With Allah's Will and Mercy, the Muslims had miraculously won the battle against the Pagans of Mecca and drove them back to where they came from, and then attacked the Jews and the Christians who betrayed the defense treaty and kicked those hypocrites out of Madina forever!

These continuous battles against the Muslims were very costly in terms of Muslim men's lives. The women had to be taken care of one way or another. For this reason, Allah Almighty had revealed the Noble Verse 4:3 to Muhammad peace be upon him to solve the social problems that the Muslims were facing. That is why at the very beginning of the Noble Verse 4:3 we see Allah Almighty setting a conditional clause for Orphans "If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans...(4:3)." This Noble Verse came down for the purpose of protecting the Orphans and to increase the number of the Muslims by allowing the men to marry multiple wives (preferably from the grown Orphans at that time), up to four wives only. The purpose was absolutely not for man's sexual pleasure nor privilege, nor was it to support man's personal ego. It was revealed to solve a major social problem to prevent major sins such as illegal sex and prostitution.

Polygamy is not encouraged in the Noble Quran, nor Allah Almighty had allowed it because He really liked it. He was clearly careful to highly discourage polygamy to men by telling them "but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one...(4:3)" which clearly orders men to either be fair or to not marry at all, despite the fact that we lost many men, Allah Almighty still didn't want polygamy to really take place. That's why He later told men "Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire...(4:129)" which clearly nullifies the excuse that He gave them to practice polygamy. Is this a contradiction then? Absolutely not!. It clearly proves that when Allah Almighty allowed polygamy, He only allowed it because we (the Muslims) had an emergency; we lost almost half of our men if not even more. When Islam later became much stronger and Muslims defeated the infidels in the continues battles that were forced upon them (the Muslims), Allah Almighty nullified the excuse that he gave to men to practice polygamy, which would then lead to prohibiting polygamy altogether.

 

[TheHumbleWun]

:salam2:

And that means even the womens also commited Zina excep the first four, :astag: the should repent. some women are animals, i can't believe they would marry a man with more than four and he can't even give all of them something and be fair with them and their childeren. walahi it drives me crazy.:angryred:

Who said the women were Muslim? Who said they were practicing Muslims? Who said HE was a practicing Muslim? Who said the women knew that he had other wives? We don't know the full story.

 

[Zaynab123]

Who said the women were Muslim? Who said they were practicing Muslims? Who said HE was a practicing Muslim? Who said the women knew that he had other wives? We don't know the full story.

:salam2:

this had been posted before and it said he was muslim but thats my bad if he is not muslim but he will be punished anyways. And what about when he said "there is no punishment stated in the quran for having more than four wives" he also argued with the scholars. and off course i saw their pictures befor and their comments and aslo one picture was taken all of them at the same time.

and brother humblewun it doesn't matter if he is practicing Islam or not but he will be punished so will the womens be punished too. i hope this is very clear to u brother humblewun.....

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

Dear Sister let us leave punishment to Allah subhana talla.
If I am not mistaken I read on the forum of one young woman who was destitute and her parents married her to this healer. The article described the man in question as a man who was respected for his ablities to cure.
I am not suggesting that what he did was normal or healthy but there seemed to be a socio-economic reality to this bizzare story that can not be over shadowed.

 

[shaheeda35]

:salam2:
I say what makes him better than the Prophet Muhammad(Salalahu Alahi wa Salaam). He did not have all those wives, and most men cannot even handle one, let alone 86, subhanallah!! He should be punished, and I agree if not in this life, but in the next.

 

[ShahnazZ]

Who said the women were Muslim? Who said they were practicing Muslims? Who said HE was a practicing Muslim? Who said the women knew that he had other wives? We don't know the full story.

Actually, we do know. This story regarding this man was first posted awhile ago by Brother Muselman ( http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39592 ).

Based on the information from the interiew he gave BBC, he basically stated that he was a "healer" given mysterious powers from Allah. The women were Muslim (or at least most) as they had stated that Allah had "told them" to marry this man. And not only did he say he imply that he was a practicing Muslim, but he went so far to state that RasulAllah SAW HIMSELF would come and speak to him in visions and he himself and his wives believed him to be the next Messenger of Allah AFTER RasulAllah SAW.

 

[muharram23]

salamu alaykum

how can we know that this story is true?

wassaalam

 

[Abdul Hasib]

If what his wive's meant about him being next in line of Muhammad (SAW) as being that he's going to be a Prophet, then now they have left Islam, and if he claims that himself, and if the courts find out, they'll come to his house and kill him.

Now how many Munafiqs have claimed to be a Messenger of Allah Ta Alla? I think 17 out of the 30 have come, and all of them being Munafiqs, and the last being Ad Daajil.

 

[MRasheed]

There is no doubt this brother broke the law according to the Shariah but it seems the gvenrment waited too long to intercept. Why not do this when he had 5 wives, or 12, or30?

I suspect they didn't really know about it until his prideful boasting attracted the media attention.

 

[island muslim]

salamu alaykum

how can we know that this story is true?

wassaalam

wa alaiykum salaam akhi.

its true.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7574757.stm