KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Muslims wives who are in polygamous marriages are most concerned about their husbands taking on another wife without their permission, a report on 2022 statistics show.
In the 2022 findings by Sisters in Islam (SIS), it found that 51 out of 431 Muslims who had used their free legal aid service Telenisa were in polygamous marriages.
Out of the 51 persons who contacted Telenisa for help or advice, 24 are the first wives, 14 are the husbands while 13 are the second wives.
“The chief concern raised by clients of polygamous marriages was the husband remarrying without the wife’s consent, which was recorded at 24 per cent,” Telenisa said in its report on issues raised by the 51 persons.
The second top concern was husbands not providing maintenance at 18 per cent, followed by husbands neglecting child maintenance (14 per cent), polygamous marriages which were not registered (14 per cent).
Other issues raised were wives who were unhappy with the arrangement (8 per cent), husbands who had absconded or had left (8 per cent), wives who had to endure unfair turn and treatment (3 per cent), polygamous marriages without the wife’s knowledge (3 per cent).
At the launch of the 2022 Telenisa findings yesterday, SIS manager of advocacy, legal services and research Fadhlul Adnin Abd Karim said: “Although Islam allows polygamy, we in SIS don’t support such marriages, because being fair in all aspects towards the wives who are in polygamous marriages is very difficult and highly likely to be impossible.”
Fadhlul Adnin said some of those who had reached out to SIS regarding the issue of polygamy had acknowledged that Islam permits such practices, but said that they did not like such marriages but were sometimes forced to accept such a situation where they had to share their husband with other wives.
Yesterday was also SIS’ celebration of its 20th year anniversary for its Telenisa service for primarily for Muslim women seeking advice especially on Islamic family law, such as claiming for money from husbands in the form of maintenance to pay for the household or for children’s care.
SIS executive director Rozana Isa said the non-government organisation was proud that it had the chance to serve for 20 years for the family institution in Malaysia by providing legal aid services to women who need it.
“During the 20 years, around 15,000 women and also men had obtained legal services. At least RM1.5 million in funds were spent over the 20 years to ensure this service exists and goes on smoothly,” she said, thanking those who had donated over the years — including Yayasan Sime Darby — to support this initiative.
Rozana also thanked the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centres and chambering students who had served Telenisa through these legal aid centres, saying she hoped that such exposure to the plight of Muslim women facing challenges as mothers and wives would help them become better lawyers who are more sensitive towards injustice faced by women.
Telenisa can be reached at 012-812 3424 from Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm via phone calls, video calls and WhatsApp, with face-to-face consultations available by making appointments.
