多妻有原因

Senegal is considered as a country in which democratic system works very well， but polygamy is still a prevailing custom. Although the government of Senegal proposed the articles about women’s liberation in recent years， polygamy still exists. The reasons behind it are mostly due to the influence of Islamic culture.

The Quran pointed out: “If you are afraid of not being equitable with the orphans， then marry the women you like: two， three or four. But if you fear you would not act with justice， then marry just one or with a few of your slaves. Thus， you will be off doing evil.” It’s not difficult to find that Islam promotes and encourages polygamy. In Islamic countries， polygamy is widely recognized. Especially in rural areas and tribes， it has been preserved as an “old tradition”.

As an old tradition， polygamy has its deep historical reasons. Polygamy embodies the features of patriarchy marriage form， stressing that male is the leading role in the process of social production. Also because of this， man with dominant position in politics and economy has more opportunities of reproduction， and polygamy gathers the resources of human reproduction. It is consistent with the enlightenment in the Quran which specifies that man can carry more than one wife for reproduction. Reproduction and expanding their own family became the reason for most Arabic countries who promotes polygamy. The wealth of Maasai man is measured by the number of his wives， and the purpose of marriage is to have children. The motive of making the family blood sustainable makes many African countries still stick to polygamy.

塞內加爾曾被認為是民主制度實行得較好的國家，但一夫多妻制仍然作為一種風俗流傳。雖然近幾年塞內加爾政府提出了有關婦女解放的條款，但仍未取消一夫多妻制。其背后的原因很大一部分受伊斯蘭教文化的影響。

《古蘭經》指出:“你們可以擇娶你們愛悅的女子，各娶兩妻、三妻、四妻；如果你們怕不能公平對待她們，那么你們只可以各娶一妻，或以你們的女奴為滿足。這是更近與公平的。”不難看出，伊斯蘭教是不反對和鼓勵“一夫多妻”制。在伊斯蘭教國家，“一夫多妻制”得到了廣泛認可，尤其在農村和部族當中一直被認為是“古老傳統”而得以保留。

“一夫多妻”制作為一種古老的傳統，有其深刻的歷史原因。“一夫多妻”制體現的是父權制婚姻形式的特點，強調男人在社會生產過程中擁有主導地位。也正因為此，在政治與經濟上占有主導地位的男性擁有更多的繁育機會，“一夫多妻”制為人類繁衍集中了資源。而這也與穆罕默德的《古蘭經》中的啟示一樣:“‘一夫多妻’原則，是為了繁衍種族。繁衍后代，壯大家族勢力，成為大多數阿拉伯國家奉行“一夫多妻”制的原因。在馬賽，男人的財富以妻子的數量來衡量，娶妻的目的就是為了生孩子。家族香火永旺的推動力，讓很多非洲國家仍然堅持“一夫多妻”的傳統。

Wives and concubines symbolize fortune and social status. Yoruba people of Nigeria have always believed “wives are the symbol for wealth”. In their eyes， wealth cannot compete with “wives in the house”. The more the wives， the higher the social status is. An emir called Arribhuka in Nigeria owns over 400 wives. Moreover， emirs of Unyoro usually marry 10 to 15 wives， otherwise it won’t match the status of being an emir. In the slave society and feudal society of China， slave masters and emperors adopted the polygamy in the form of taking concubine， and the number of concubines symbolized their wealth and social status. To some extent， it was also a form of polygamy.

The reporter found in the interviews that isolated ethnic group is more likely to keep the tradition rooted in their blood and form featured marriage culture and marriage pattern. “I have 15 wives， and I’m not lying”， said proudly a young Mosuo man in the performance “Lijiang Impression” directed by the Chinese well-known director Zhang Yimou. Mosou is a special social group in China， and they are the only matriarchal clan society in China at present. They adopt the system of “walking marriage” in which “man and woman do not get married”. If young man and woman are fond of each other， the man will go to the woman’s house at night and return home before the dawn. In general， a man may have sexual intercourse with many women. Although this kind of “marriage” is not real marriage in legal term， it exists and is accepted as a form of marriage by the people.

另外，妻妾成群被視為一種財富和地位的象征。尼日利亞的猶羅巴族人一直信奉“妻子是財富的象征”。在他們的眼里，家財萬貫抵不上“家有眾妻”，妻子越多，地位就越高。尼日利亞有位名叫阿萊布卡的酋長，擁有的妻子多達400個。此外，據稱烏尼奧羅人（Unyoro）一般酋長須娶妻10～15人，否則便與其酋長地位不相稱。在中國奴隸社會和封建社會中，奴隸主和封建主公開實行以納妾為主要形式的多妻制，并以妻妾的多少作為財產和地位的象征。某種程度上，這也算是“一夫多妻”制的一種形式。

記者在走訪中發現，與外界基本隔離的民族，容易保存植根于人們血液中的傳統，形成特色的婚姻文化和婚姻形態。“我有15個老婆，我不騙你。”在中國著名導演張藝謀導演的《印象麗江》的表演中，一個年輕的摩梭男子高調地向觀眾宣告他的榮耀。摩梭人是中國現今社會一個特殊的群體，他們是當前中國唯一的母系氏族社會，實行“男不娶，女不嫁”的“走婚”制度。成年男女青年若彼此中意，男方就晚上去到女方家，在天亮前又回自己家，通常一個男子跟多名女子發生性關系。雖然，這種“婚姻”形態，不算是真正法律意義上的婚姻，但作為一個族群的“婚姻”形態為人所認同。

Nothing is absolute right or wrong. There are both opponents and supporters. In 2011， a group of Malaysian Islamic women established a society called “Club for Wives with Complete Submission”. In order to please their husbands， they take course like sex education in the club. In their opinion， it will help to reduce social problems such as cheating， divorce， and domestic violence.

Supporters of “polygamy” even believe that just because they can marry many wives， the world of Arabic men never has sexual depression and sexual craving， and that’s why the incidence rate of sex crime is much lower than the eastern and western world. Less sex crimes mean the lower occurrence of AIDS， which is also a benefit brought by polygamy.

事事無絕對，有反對者，也有贊同者。據了解，2011年，一群馬來西亞伊斯蘭女性成立了“千依百順妻子俱樂部”，為了取悅丈夫，她們在俱樂部里學習性教育等課程。在她們看來，這將有助于減少社會問題，如不忠、離婚和家庭暴力等。

“一夫多妻”制的維護者甚至認為，正是因為可以娶多位妻子，阿拉伯男人的世界才幾乎不存在性壓抑、性饑渴，性犯罪的發生率才會遠遠低于西方和東方人。而性犯罪少，艾滋病的發病率也會低，這也被認為是好處之一。