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Polygyny
Mating system in which the male partner may have multiple partners / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about polygynous marriage practices. For polygynous animal mating, see Polygyny in animals.
Polygyny (/pəˈlɪdʒɪni/) is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (polugunía); from Ancient Greek πολύ (polú) 'many', and γυνή (gunḗ) 'woman, wife'.[1]
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Polygyny is legal
Polygyny is legal for Muslims only
Polygyny is illegal, but the practice is not criminalized
Polygyny is illegal and the practice is criminalized
Legal status unknown
- In Eritrea, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka polygyny is legal only for Muslims.
- In Nigeria and South Africa, polygynous marriages based on customary law are legally recognized for Muslims.
- In Mauritius, polygynous unions have no legal recognition. However, Muslim men may marry up to four women, but they do not have the legal status of wives.