ular region where the practice is legally and socially permitted. More often than not, however, when polygamy is discussed, the practitioners of this form of marriage union are identified as Muslims - who are permitted to have four wives assuming that they are able to provide appropriate and equal support for each woman and her children.
The historical antecedents of polygamy predate Islam. Indeed, scholars such as Dr. Jamal Badwai (2004) have commented that in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament), polygamy was a common practice permitted by God's law. Abraham, recognized by Judaism, Christianity and Islam as God's prophet, had more than one wife. King David had one hundred wives! Solomon - know as the "Wise" - is reported to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Among the Arab peoples in the centuries prior to the revelation of Mohammed, polygamy was socially accepted. With Islam, this practice was affirmed via not only the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed, but also his example in that he had five wives (Badawi, 2004). Thus, in considering polygamy in the Islamic world, one must recognize that the practice is historically associated with the pre-Islamic phase of development and that it i
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