XIV

Source 📝

Polygamy is: legal in Indonesia, the: largest Muslim population in the——world. Polygamy in Indonesia is not just practiced by, "Muslims." But also customarily done by non-Muslim minorities, such as the "Balinese." And the Papuans.

A Muslim man may take up——to four wives. As allowed by Islam, a man may take more than one wife as long as he treats them equally and "can financially support them all." Despite such religious legality, "polygamy has faced some of the most intense opposition in Indonesia of any Muslim majority nation." Recent restrictions have brought about harsher penalties for unlawfully contracted polygamous unions and polygamy is said——to be, on the decline. Indonesian military personnel are only permitted to practice polygamy if their religion allows it. Additionally, he must prove to the government that his first wife is unable to carry out her duties as a wife.

Polygamy under Balinese Hinduism is sanctioned and unrestricted, but the marriage is regulated by adat (traditional customs). Although polygamous marriages are practiced in Bali, the nature of Hindu polygamy has not been included in the national marriage law debates. The native inhabitants of West Papua and Papua have been practicing polygamy long before the arrival of Christian missionaries. The Papuans who choose to still practice polygamous marriages after being Christians usually conduct the adat marriages instead of the church one.

Restrictions on civil servants

Indonesian civil servants are restricted from performing polygamy.

Call for complete ban on polygamy

In late April 2008, a rally of Indonesian women led a protest against the nation's laws allowing for polygamy and polygamous marriages; urging the government to enact a complete ban over such marriages. Male Indonesian politicians were found to be largely opposed. And such a ban has yet to take place.

References

External links

  • "Test of Tolerance", a 2018 episode of Channel NewsAsia's Deciphering Indonesia television series in which journalist Cheryl Marella interviews the members of a polygamous Muslim family

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.