A growing number of Muslim women have taken to the social media platform X to criticize men who assert their right to marry multiple wives without adhering to the prescribed Islamic conditions.
These women highlighted that while many men claim the right to polygamy, they neglect the "Sunnah like the Prophet directed," focusing solely on the aspect that permits marrying multiple women.
Rihanat, a user on X, expressed her frustration: "Muslim men are fighting for their rights to be polygamous yet not following the Sunnah like the Prophet directed. They act like it’s an obligation, but it’s not. It’s permissible but not compulsory. There are conditions attached to it that 99.9% of them wouldn’t be able to fulfill."
She further elaborated on the conditions often ignored by these men, such as marrying widows, treating all wives equally, and considering divorced, poor, or disabled women. "If it’s going to cause problems in your first marriage, don’t marry!" she added, concluding that many men are "just a bunch of unserious fellows."
Another user pointed out the hypocrisy in men's financial expectations: "The same Islam that said provision should be for a man solely and a woman’s money is her money... The same men are demanding for 50/50, talking about how difficult the economy is." She noted that men often rise up for the right to a second wife while failing in other aspects of the Sunnah.
This surge of criticism follows the admission by popular businessman Suraj Oyewole, known as Sir Jarus, who confessed on X to beating his wife of 14 years after she attempted to prevent him from marrying a second wife. His admission sparked outrage and led to the involvement of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, which has stated it is investigating the case and reiterated that abuse will not be tolerated.
Sir Jarus later deleted his tweets, but screenshots had already circulated widely on the platform.
This growing conversation on social media reflects the frustration and call for accountability among Muslim women regarding the misuse of polygamy rights and the neglect of its stringent conditions.
