Islam is the only major religion whose sacred texts arguably advocate polygamy. Verse 3 of Sura 4 An-Nisa (women) explains that under certain (and disputed) circumstances, a man can marry up to four wives. According to this text, many Muslim countries allow a man to have up to four wives. However, many also require the man to indicate whether he plans to be monogamous or polygamous under the marriage contract with his first wife, and if she does not allow it, he cannot marry another woman as long as he is married to her. In addition, polyandry, in which a wife has several husbands, is still strictly prohibited. Buddhists view marriage as a secular matter rather than a sacrament. As such, each Buddhist country has its own position on polygamy. For example, Thailand legalized polygamy in 1955, while Myanmar banned polygamy in 2015. Some countries that have banned polygamy may still recognize polygamous marriages from other countries.
For example, Sweden recognizes polygamous marriages contracted abroad. Switzerland has banned polygamy, but polygamous marriages contracted in another country are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Australia recognizes polygamous marriages in other countries only in certain circumstances. Polygamy is illegal and criminalized in all countries in North and South America, including all 50 U.S. states. However, in February 2020, the Utah House of Representatives and Senate reduced the sentence for consensual polygamy, which was previously classified as a felony, to about one misdemeanor. In some African countries, polygamy is illegal under civil law, but still permitted under common law, where actions traditionally accepted by a particular culture are considered legal. This arguably confusing loophole leads to two types of marriages: «civil» marriages and «habitual» or «religious» marriages, and allows countries like Liberia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone to allow and even support polygamous marriages without formally recognizing them.
Since the U.S. government issued the first federal bans on polygamy — called «plural marriage» by the LDS Church — proponents of the practice have sought to argue that such bans constitute an unconstitutional violation of their right to freedom of religion under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Many prominent Jewish leaders, including Abraham, David, and Jacob, are described in the Torah as polygamous/plural marriages. However, like all but a few contemporary Christians (whose Old Testament mirrors the Torah), modern Jews have denied this practice. Group marriage is an umbrella term for marriages involving multiple husbands as well as multiple wives. Polyamory is the practice of having multiple romantic relationships, with all parties having complete knowledge and giving full consent. Not related to marriage. Polygeny is the (outdated) theory that the different races of humanity evolved from different ancestral groups. This term has nothing to do with polygamy, but is sometimes confused with «polygyny», so it is included here for clarity.
In countries that prohibit polygamy, the crime is commonly referred to as bigamy, although the penalty varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some countries where polygamy is illegal, the ban is not enforced. With the exception of Solomon Islands, polygamous marriages are not recognized in Europe and Oceania. In India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, governments recognize polygamous marriages, but only for Muslims. In Australia, polygamous marriage is prohibited, but polygamous relationships are common in some Australian indigenous communities. In Indonesia, polygamy is legal in some areas, such as Bali, Papua and West Papua. Balinese Hinduism allows polygamy, practiced for centuries by the Balinese and Papua. Protests against the ban on polygamy and polygamous marriages took place in Indonesia in 2008, but did not lead to changes to the law. In most countries, a person who marries one person while still legally married to another commits bigamy, a crime, although penalties vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In addition, the second and subsequent marriages are considered null and void.
Because polygamy has been illegal in the United States since the mid-19th century, and because it was illegal in many states before that time, sources on alternative marriage practices are limited. As a result, it is difficult to get a clear picture of the extent of practice, past and present. Polygamy is the general and neutral term for any marriage between three or more people. Polygyny is a specific term used to describe a marriage involving a husband and at least two wives. It is by far the most common (and commonly legal) form of polygamy. Polyandry is a specific term used to describe marriages between a woman and at least two husbands. Polygamy in any form is generally prohibited in the United States, which justifies more or less serious criminal and civil consequences. After Joseph Smith`s death, polygamy continued in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), then led by Brigham Young. In the area that became Utah and some surrounding areas, plural marriage was openly practiced by followers of the LDS Church. In 1852 Young felt safe enough at LDS Church in Utah to publicly announce his practice of polygamy. However, opposition from the U.S. government threatened the legal status of the LDS Church.
Wilford Woodruff announced on September 25, 1890 that the LDS Church had officially abandoned the practice. Woodruff`s declaration was officially accepted at a general conference of the Church on October 6, 1890. The LDS Church`s position on the practice of polygamy was reaffirmed in 1904 by another official statement entitled «Second Manifesto», reaffirming polygamy. [27] Prosecutors used the part of Utah`s cohabitation law to prosecute Utah polygamists for bigamy. She faces up to five years in prison. Many U.S. courts (e.g., Turner v.S., 212 Miss. 590, 55 So.2d 228) treat bigamy as a crime with strict liability: In some jurisdictions, a person may be convicted of a crime even if he reasonably believed that he had only one legal spouse. For example, if a person mistakenly believes that their ex-spouse is dead or that their divorce is final, they can still be convicted of bigamy if they marry a new person. [18] Polygamy became a major social and political problem in the United States in 1852 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) announced that a form of practice called plural marriage was part of its doctrine. The U.S. government`s opposition to this practice led to a fierce legal dispute, culminating when Church President Wilford Woodruff announced the official abandonment of the Church on September 25, 1890.
[1] However, renegade fundamentalist Mormon groups living primarily in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico still practice plural marriage. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act, which strengthened the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act by classifying polygamy as a crime and establishing «unlawful cohabitation» as a misdemeanor that excluded unmarried couples from living together. This made it easier to detect unofficial polygamous acts, as it eliminated the need to prove the existence of a legal marriage. This subsection of Christianity is known for its historically atypical attitude toward polygamy. In the United States, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Utah, practiced polygamy from 1847 to 1890, which it called «plural marriage.» The U.S. government declared polygamy illegal in 1862, mostly in response to the LDS Church. The church, recognizing that support for polygamy prevented the state of Utah, banned the practice in 1890, and the church`s founder, Joseph Smith, disavowed the practice in 1904. Some small Mormon groups that have split from the LDS Church still practice polygamy, as do some members of society as a whole, but these unions are not legally registered or recognized. The Mormon practice of plural marriage was established on August 12. It was officially established in 1843 by Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-day Saint movement. Since polygamy was illegal in the state of Illinois,[24] it was practiced in secret during Smith`s lifetime.
During the Nauvoo era, from 1839 to 1844, several Mormon leaders (including Smith, Brigham Young, and Heber C. Kimball) adopted several wives, but all Mormon leaders who publicly taught polygamous doctrine were disciplined. For example, Hyram Brown was excommunicated on February 1, 1844. [25] In May 1844, Smith declared, «What a thing it is for a man to be accused of adultery and to have seven wives, if I can find only one.» [26] In 1953, the state of Arizona investigated and searched a group of 385 people in the polygamous settlement of Hildale and Colorado City, which stretched across the Utah-Arizona border. All the men were arrested and the children were placed with foster families. A judge eventually declared the action illegal, and all returned to the community, which now numbers about 10,000 people. [40] The practice of informal polygamy among fundamentalist groups raises several legal issues. It has been considered difficult to prosecute polygamists for bigamy, largely because they are rarely officially married under state law. In the absence of evidence that the alleged perpetrators have multiple formal or customary marriages, these groups are simply subject to laws against adultery or illegal cohabitation – laws that are not universally enforced because they also criminalize other behaviors that are otherwise socially sanctioned.