We have written on many occasions about polygamy in the US Muslim community, so perhaps the most surprising thing about this information is that it is coming to us from the Huffington Post! The article by Patricia Nell Warren, which discusses all groups practicing polygamy, begins this way (a turn off to me):
One of the religious right’s standard sputterings is that legalizing same-sex marriage will open the door to legalizing polygamy.
But, read on! Scrolling down to the section on Muslim polygamists, the author has obviously done some homework about Sharia (Islamic law) entering the US along with the immigrants.
The third threat that the DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) crowd see coming is from traditionalists in the U.S.’s growing Muslim population. Since 1900, the U.S.’s Islamic community has been quietly growing; but in recent decades, however, that growth has exploded with an inflow of immigrants and refugees, many of them from fundamentalist Islamic countries where plural marriage is legal. While liberal and even moderate Muslim-Americans have largely abandoned the practice of polygamy, traditionalists still insist on it. Their sacred book, the Koran, authorizes Muslim men to have up to four wives, provided they can care for them adequately.
U.S. census authorities don’t keep stats on religion, so they don’t know how big the Muslim population actually is. Recent conservative estimates put it at nearly 3 million, while liberal estimates push it as high as 7-8 million. Even a middling 5-6 million would make Muslims a sizable voting bloc. Muslim immigrants or refugees who arrive here with more than one wife, though legal in their country of origin, are required to pick one wife as the legal spouse under U.S. law and jettison the rest. However, according to a recent NPR story, there are an estimated 100,000 U.S. Muslims, perhaps more, who are practicing closet polygamy.
We have heard privately that refugees from countries like Somalia have for years brought additional wives to the US disguised as sisters or aunts. Hum! That sure fits the scenario that has recently caused the suspension of the State Department’s P-3 family reunification program. Our source also told us that the volags resettling the polygamous “families” knew or suspected the phoney relationships, but still placed the “relative” nearby in the neighborhood. The additional wives then were treated as single women with children and got more welfare aid. The sure tip-off of a “husband” in the neighborhood was a “single” woman with a new pregnancy.
Ms. Warren goes on to explain Sharia law creep:
Immigrant traditionalists who want the same kind of life here that they lived in their countries of origin have discovered a back door into our legal system. Through it, they’re quietly linking their Islamic law system, sharia, with our practice of civil arbitration.
Yup, one more reason to halt ALL MUSLIM IMMIGRATION TO THE US.
A collection of our previous posts on polygamy is here.