The mufti of Moscow, Ildar Alyautdinov, has called for legalization of polygamy to reduce ‘sinful fornications’ and ensure ‘women rights’ are protected.
Alyautdinov told state-owned news agency RIA Novosti that numerous social problems could be prevented in Russia, only if the men were allowed to have multiple wives because the women are more than men in numbers.
He said that the absence of Islamic Sharia law in Russia leaves women ‘completely unprotected’ socially. Alyautdinov also made it abundantly clear that he does not support polyandry, in which a woman can have multiple husbands.
He also claimed that many women were left ‘single’ after getting a divorce or becoming widowed.
The Russian Federal State Statistics Service revealed in 2018 that the country’s population was 146.9 million, as reported by Russia Beyond, out of which, 78.8 million were women as compared to only 68.1 million men.
Informal polygamy already exists in Russia in some Muslim areas, such as Tatarstan, Dagestan, and Chechnya.
The Russian Orthodox Church, in response to the comments, told BBC that “monogamy is associated with respect for the roles of man and woman and the recognition of their equal dignity in marriage.”
