The 2023 Amazon Prime Video show Made in Heaven promoted the myth of Polygamy among Muslims, although census data shows its negligible prevalence among all religious groups, and has more to do with class and education rather than faith
In 2023, Made in Heaven was among the most-watched shows on Amazon Prime Video in India. It supposedly exposed unsavoury customs and prejudices otherwise brushed under the carpet. The laudable aim was far from achieved. The show instead promoted internalized prejudices by peddling stereotypes about Muslims, which have contributed to invisibilization and widespread hate and violence against the beleaguered community.
But thank god for small mercies. While there has been open incitement to violence and the promotion of unabashed hatred, the Made In Heaven episode six only peddled stereotypes. A Muslim man, Wasim (Parvin Dabas) in the show, marries for the second time against the wishes of his homemaker wife, Shehnaz (Dia Mirza), and forces her to attempt to kill herself.
Shehnaz was shown mechanically participating in the preparations for Wasim’s second marriage while juxtaposing polygamy against a lesbian couple’s joyous ceremony of commitment. She continues to live with Wasim, their children, and mother-in-law Nagma (Anita Kanwal), with her life mainly defined by her responsibilities as a wife, mother, and daughter-in-law.
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Zoya Akhtar, the co-creator of Made in Heaven, faced criticism for throwing an already maligned community under the bus. She was not operating in a vacuum. Casual Muslim stereotyping has been the norm even when it had nothing to do with the storyline, before their demonization became par for the course. In Aamir Khan’s acclaimed film, 3 Idiots, a stereotypical Muslim man is randomly shown with four veiled women when the protagonist’s friends are looking for him in Shimla. A Muslim man is shown objecting and telling Aamir Khan’s character in PK (2014) that he was alive when he asks four women whether they were in black robes (burka) mourning their apparently polygamous husband.
Aamir Khan apologized—of course not to Muslims—when he faced a sustained campaign for the boycott of his films. He was singled out among PK‘s predominantly Hindu cast and crew over his Muslim heritage. He was accused of hurting Hindu religious sentiments in PK.
Muslim Stereotyping And Changed Political Climate
Bollywood has since 2014 adapted to the changed political climate and largely toed the line. Zoya Akhtar’s father, Bollywood scriptwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, has been among the smarter ones in adapting. He would, until a decade back, be a regular ‘Muslim voice’ on everything under the sun on national TV. But he has now become more vociferous in proclaiming himself an atheist, underlining the state of play in Bollywood, once regarded as one of the last bastions of secularism.
Filmmaking is also a risky endeavor, and filmmakers often make what sells. Polygamy, as one of the political sticks used to beat Muslims, has become more saleable. It is solely used to target Muslims, although census data shows its negligible prevalence among all religious groups, and has more to do with class and education rather than faith. The 2019-20 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data showed polygamy was most prevalent among Christians (2.1%), followed by Muslims (1.9%) and Hindus (1.3%).
Polygamy in India
Rema Nagarajan noted in The Times of India that the high prevalence of polygamy among Christians could be because of northeastern states, where the practice is more common. Polygamy was more prevalent among Hindus in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
An analysis of NFHS data from 2005-06, 2015-16, and 2019-20 by Mumbai’s International Institute of Population Studies, which also conducts the NFHS, showed polygamy was found to be higher among poor, uneducated, rural, and older people. It indicated socioeconomic factors played a role, even as polygynous marriages decreased from 1.9% in 2005-06 to 1. 4% in 2019-20.
Nagarajan wrote that the higher prevalence of polygyny in parts of Tamil Nadu and the northeast with very high literacy rates showed that it is not just about that. She cited all rounds of NFHS and added that polygynous marriages were higher among older women aged 35 and above. Nagarajan added that this partly indicated the practice was on the decline.
Does Islam Really Encourage Polygamy?
Contrary to the myth, Islam does not encourage polygamy. The Quran, the primary source of Islamic law, backs monogamy as the preferred model of marriage, underlining how inherently unjust polygamy is. It did not give men the blanket right to have more than one wife. The relevant verse (Al-Nisa, 4:3) was revealed in the limited context of the Battle of Uhud, when the nascent Muslim community in Medina lost a significant number of men, leaving women and children unsupported.
The Quran did not sanction the pre-Islamic practice of unlimited polygyny. It restricted the number to four in the limited context of widowed women and orphaned children after the Battle of Uhud, and as a responsibility and not as a right. It was a major reform at that time, as the Quran restricted the existing practice of men marrying as many women as they wanted and placed conditions to ensure justice. The Quran stressed the need for just conduct and equal treatment while also recognising the difficulty in doing so. In fact, verse 4:129 advocates monogamy as the ideal state of marriage.
Those drawing justification for polygamy from Sunna, or the Prophet Muhammad’s way of life, do so out of context. The Prophet mostly lived a monogamous life, even when power and authority were largely determined by the size of one’s harem in seventh-century Arabia. He was 25 when he married Khadija. The union lasted for over 25 years.
The Prophet spent the prime years of his life in the companionship of a single wife, Khadijah, until her death, when polygamy was the norm. He never thought of remarrying despite the tradition of multiple wives. His 25-year monogamy in Mecca was almost unheard of at the time. The prophets Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Hosea had multiple wives. The Prophet Muhammad remarried when Khadijah died after a well-wisher suggested to him to do so for the sake of his daughters, as he was busy with preaching. The Prophet also married for political reasons.
