2007年VOA标准英语-Acceptance of Polygamy Slowly Changes in Muslim

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
12 March 2007

In some African Muslim countries, polygamy is still commonly practiced. According to certain interpretations¹ of Islam, men can marry up to four women. But more and more African women in Muslim countries are saying they are not willing to be wife number two or three or four. In this first part of a five-part series on the changing African family, Phuong Tran brings us this report from Senegal about how some are questioning long-held traditions about marriage.

Penda Mbow teaches history of religion here at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University. She tells her students they need to question polygamy from a religious point of view.

"Islam is used always to justify² the question of polygamy. In my opinion, Islam does not encourage polygamy," she says. "In Africa, in Muslim countries, polygamy is a reality. I think it is more specifically African than Islam. "

 
Ibrahima Sene eats dinner in the traditional manner with his lawfully-wedded first wife Mame Seye, center, second wife Khady, left, third wife Aida, right, and some of his children (File)
Mbow says Islam's religious text, the Koran, makes it hard for a man to marry more than one woman by requiring that the man provide for each woman financially, and treat them all the same.

"I think it is not possible to treat all the women in the same way, [to] love them [equally]," she says. "Polygamy, in my opinion, should be the exception in Islamic society and not something you find all the time."

According to the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey for Senegal, about half of all marriages in Senegal are polygamous.

Djiby Diakhate, a sociologist³ who teaches at the National School of Social Work in Dakar, says one reason polygamy developed in early African culture was because of agriculture.

"Polygamy was more respected before because men needed women to cultivate the land," said Diakhate. "The more wives, the more respect a man had. Now with the mechanization of society, there is less societal pressure to marry."

Religion professor Penda Mbow says even though there is less pressure than before, women still feel pressure to agree to polygamy.

University graduate Mya, 22, is from Dakar and says she is willing to be in a polygamous marriage. She says it is hard for a woman to find a man who will agree to limit himself to one wife.

Mya says she is not against polygamy, as long as she has her own home and space from the other wives.  She adds men in Senegal have the right to be with more than one woman. She says if she did not agree to polygamy, her husband would have mistresses.

 
Soda⁴ Samb
But far from Dakar in the mostly rural town of Fatick, 19-year-old Soda Samb wrinkles her nose when asked whether she agrees to be one of many wives. Samb says she wants to be in a monogamous marriage where she is the only wife because she says there are more problems between families in polygamous marriages. She adds that even though her parents, who are in a polygamous marriage, support her dream to be a lawyer or judge, they will not agree for her to be in a monogamous marriage.

Codou Bop is a Senegalese women's right activist⁵ who says it may take another generation, or longer, for Senegalese society to reject polygamy even though many people privately⁶ oppose it. She says most Senegalese women are not ready to fight the tradition because of their struggles in other areas like access to education and employment.

"Struggling against polygamy is not yet a priority when you consider all the problems they have to tackle - the economic, the social, the political level," she says.

The laws of most African countries with significant numbers of Muslims allow polygamy, with different conditions. For example, Somalia requires court permission and proof a man's first wife is infertile⁷ or imprisoned⁸.

Standing⁹ out in Muslim Africa is Tunisia, whose first post-colonial president Habib Bourguiba prohibited polygamy.

1 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

3 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

4 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

7 infertile   

adj.不孕的；不肥沃的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• Plants can't grow well in the infertile land.在贫瘠的土地上庄稼长不好。
• Nobody is willing to till this infertile land.这块薄田没有人愿意耕种。

8 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。