Concept and Practice of ’Istibdāl among Contemporary Muslims in Nigeria: Are there Correlations with Qur`ān 4:20?

Authors

  • Khalid Ishola Bello

Keywords:

Wahare, ’Istibdāl, Polygyny, Marriage, Nigeria

Abstract

Islam allows restricted polygyny with four wives simultaneously hitherto the unrestricted practices among the Arab before the emergence of the new faith. Having unlimited number of wives is not peculiar to the Arab alone; the practice is common in many African countries. However, on the contact with Islam, every Muslim is required not exceeding four wives simultaneously. Non-Muslim husband of more than four wives would be legally compelled to reduce the number to four upon his conversion into Islam. However, in Nigeria, some Muslims exceed the stipulated number and seek justification from Qur’ān 4:20 and tagged the practice as Istibdāl or Wahare. Hence, this paper aims to find out if there are correlations between the ‘Istibdāl and the verse in question. With the use of Interview, observation and literature review, the study identifies that the two different approaches to the ’Istibdāl are not on the same page with Qur’ān 4:20.

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Published

2020-09-14

How to Cite

Bello, K. I. . (2020). Concept and Practice of ’Istibdāl among Contemporary Muslims in Nigeria: Are there Correlations with Qur`ān 4:20?. AL-ITQAN: JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC SCIENCES AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES, 4(2), 69–84. Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/al-itqan/index.php/al-itqan/article/view/153