CHAPTER X
MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN IN INDIA
Mohammad Barakatullah, in her survey of Indian women under Moslem rule, writes:—
"To say that a Muslim harem is a pandemonium of misery, where women are caged like wild beasts, to toil and be tortured, is an assertion no less imaginary than a freak of fiction."[1]
This writer offers a tenable theory of Mohammed's sanction for isolation of women and polygamy. The Prophet found that, in Arabia, the sexes were living in considerable promiscuity and sexual disorder. He foresaw that the promulgation of a doctrine of strict monogamy would be sure to fail amongst a people so long habituated to licence, and he hoped that moral reform would follow the secluded life of women.
There is no precise encouragement of polygamy in the teaching of Islam. The Koran states that plurality of wives is permissible, under certain clearly defined and stringent regulations. A man must be sure, be-
- ↑ Vol. "India."
119
