Transcript for:
Exploring Polygamy and Religious Perspectives

Hi, I just wanted to ask you if you can just talk briefly about how they say that a man can have four wives? Can you just, because it does sound very sexist. The Westerner said, you come from Saudi Arabia?

I said, yes. He said, how many wives have you got? How many wives have you got?

In Shaikh Ahmed Didat's religious lecture entitled Christ in Islam in Melbourne, Australia, a female questioner posted some no question against the Islamic teaching. This woman alluded to the permissibility of a man having four wives, which it has sounded degrading to one of the sexes, according to her. Hi, I just wanted to ask you if you can just talk briefly about how they say that a man can have four wives. Can you just...

Because it does sound very sexist, so I was wondering if you could talk about that. It's a little bit off the subject. The lady would like to know how can a man have four wives.

I think it's a little bit off the subject. You'll answer? Okay. Well, the sheik will answer you, even though it is a little bit off the topic.

Now this is the pet question. You know when the Arabs, when they go to America or to Britain, the Westerner says, you come from Saudi Arabia? I said, yes. He said, how many wives have you got? How many wives have you got?

So my friend, a bucker, not a bucker, Kareem, Kareem Billadin, a young man, he says, you see, when he goes to America, when the Americans pose this question to him, He says, he says, he says, look, I got only one wife. But this is a solution to your problem. This polygamy is a solution to your problem.

You see, sir, you have a problem. You have in your country 7.8 million more women than men. If every man in America got married, there will be still 7.8 million women who will not be able to get husbands. And we know every man.

Man will never marry. Man gets cold feet for so many reasons. You know that? I meet a young man, how old are you? He says, 35. Are you married?

He says, no. I say, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? Do you need a doctor?

Shall I take you to the doctor to find out? What's wrong with you? Come on.

See, there is a friend of ours. You know, he's got a daughter, good looking, well educated, good family. Come. He's right.

He's right. I take him along. And when he comes to the crunch, he finds some excuse to back out.

He knows the reason. He won't tell me. That maybe at the back of his mind, he won't make the grade, man. You know, he has done so many abuses, he's finished.

That guy, so he finds excuse for not doing that. Man, man, man, man gets cold feet for so many reasons. But more women You know somebody to give them protection They don't mind a husband Even if they are frigid they are cold They don't mind somebody to give them protection I am telling you this is the psychology of women But We know every man will not get it Even if every man got married There will be 7.8 million women Without husbands in America And of the man power they have there There are 25 million sodomites You call them gays Another 25 million million women can't get husbands then your prison population 98% are males your prison population 98% are males I said your problem is getting compounded Islam offers your solution you laugh at us I said the laugh is on you. The laugh is on you.

Islam says marry women of your choice by twos and threes and fours. But if you cannot do justice between them, marry only one. The only religious book on earth.

The only religious book on earth which has the statement marry only one is the Quran. There is no other book, religious book on earth which has such a statement. The Quran says marry only one.

If you can do this. Thank you very much. Sir, I must respect and acknowledge your knowledge of the Bible.

You know a lot more of the Bible than I know of the Quran, for sure. I believe that as a Christian I have something to learn from the Quran. As far as I recall, Islam means submission under the sovereignty and will of God. And actually that's my way in believing the Bible as the Word of God, to submit under the authority of God. You have mentioned a number of difficulties in the Bible, and actually I could supply you with a lot greater number of difficulties, which disturb me too, as Christian.

But my way to believe that still the Word of God is, I can't question the authority of Jesus, as the Word of God, He acknowledges the authority of the scriptures of the Old Testament. He claims them to be infallible. Still I have difficulties with it, but I have to submit unto His authority. Without the authority of Jesus, if only I had the book, the words, I couldn't accept it as infallible, as the Word of God. In the same way as...

If only I knew God from the Bible, from my life, from the world as we know it, I couldn't believe His love. There's too much in the deeds of God that disturbs me. But I can't question the love of Jesus. I have to acknowledge that He knows, He's the expert of love.

If I compare His love to the love of God, Expertise in love, with my expertise in love, I have to accept that he knows a great more of it than I do. He knows the way of inspiration in the Bible that I don't know. And I have to submit under his authority, both as he claims the Bible to be infallible and he claims God to be love. So even though I could... supply you with a great number of difficulties at which some I could answer and some I can't.

A lot of your things I couldn't answer. There are others I could, but still that's not my way of accepting the Bible as God's Word. I have to submit under His authority.

Thank you. Thank you for your contribution to the topic this evening. With regards to that idea of submitting to His will, I also believe that we must submit to the will of Jesus.

Because His will is not His will. He says, the words you hear are not mine. But the Father that sent me, he had given me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.

Even as the Father had said unto me, so I speak. So whatever he gives, if Jesus Christ gave you the word, if he told you, eat the pig, by all means, you can eat the pig. Because he was a man of God and he won't tell you any lies. So we are to follow him. If you are following him, I say follow him.

To follow him, now he is telling you what to do. He is telling you, verily, verily I say unto you, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. There is no heaven for you. You are wasting your time.

He said, no, I believe in his blood. He didn't say blood. In Matthew 11, 11, a learned man of the Jews comes to him and says, good master, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?

So Jesus rebukes him. He said, why call us? thou make good, there is none good except the one that is God.

But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. If you were that young Jew, and if you were told, keep the commandments, what are the commandments? Everything that's given to you in the Old Testament, commandments given through Moses. He gave you, you must eat the flesh of swine. You say, no, I will eat it.

I love pork chops. What kind of a believer are you? He says, you must be circumcised.

It's an eternal covenant. God entered with Abraham and his descendants forever. You said I'm not circumcised. Why aren't you? You said the law is nailed to the cross.

Is that what Jesus said? Jesus says, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm come not to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. One jot, jot, in the Hebrew language is...

The smallest of the Hebrew alphabet. Not even that amount is to pass away from the law. But you have done away with the whole law.

So in other words, we are not following. Jesus says, follow the law, keep the commandments. But you say the law is nailed to the cross. I'm asking, where did you get it?

This idea of the law is nailed to the cross. You say Philippians, Galatians, Corinthians, Thessalonians. I say, who is that? You say, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul. I want to know who is your Lord and Master.

You say Jesus. I say, what does Jesus say? Jesus is telling you, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.

That's what he told his disciples. You haven't got that capacity. You are like little children. He's telling his disciples. but you cannot bear them now how be it when he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth but he shall not speak from himself but what things shall he hear that shall he speak and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come he shall glorify me shouldn't you be looking for him the spirit of truth who will guide mankind into all truth we have so many problems affecting us the whole world problem of racism problem of alcoholism problem of surplus women What did the Holy Ghost tell any church in 2000 years?

They are asking for solutions and they are not there. I said, the spirit of truth is Muhammad. He's given you solution to all your problems. Come, let us reason together.

Let's reason together and you'll find that the spirit of truth that you are thinking about, talking about is the prophet of truth. The word spirit is used synonymously in the Bible for a prophet. in the first episode of john chapter 4 verse 1 you read there beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of god for many false prophets have gone out into the world the false prophet is a false spirit the true prophet is a true spirit how are we to know the truth from the false the test is given to you is that the spirit that confesseth that jesus is the christ is of god am i right is that a valid test you are being given clear-cut simple basic english the spirit the prophet that confesses that says that accepts that jesus is the christ is of god am i reading correctly muhammad says jesus is the christ mercy who is christ jesus the son of mary one thousand million muslims of the world they say jesus is the christ that spirit that moved muhammad to say that is of god according to the test given in your own bible But now you're not prepared, it's not going down well.

The trouble is, we are children of prejudices, we are all. We are subject to our programming, and the programming does not allow us that freedom to say, let's see now, let us analyze. What is this man trying to teach you, Muhammad, what is he trying to tell you? What did he tell you that is getting stuck in your throat, we want to know. If there is anything, he said, by the fruits you shall know them.

By the fruits you shall know them. Do men gather figs from the thistle or grapes from the thorn? He said, every good tree will bear good fruit and every evil tree will bear evil fruit. The fruits of Islam are to be seen.

We are not angels, but the biggest society of people is in the world. The biggest society of people who don't imbibe alcohol on earth today are the Muslims, good or bad. The biggest society of people who don't gamble are Muslims.

The least racist of all... all communities on earth are muslims we are not free from racism by god we are not free but the least racism of any community on earth are the muslims so by the fruits you shall know them so these are the fruits why don't you judge them by the fruits jesus said judge them by the fruits