Polygamy and Religious Polemics in the Late Ottoman Empire: Fatma Aliye and Mahmud Es‘ad’s Ta‘addüd-i Zevcât’a Zeyl
Journal: Cihannümâ tarih ve coğrafya araştırmaları dergisi/Cihannuma tarih ve coğrafya araştırmaları dergisi
Year: 2015

Although Ottomans accepted polygamy according to the tenets of Hanafi Islamic law, they argued over its social and legal aspects throughout the classical period. In the late 19 th century these debates became explicitly connected to contemporary political events. Authors supported or opposed polygamy by referencing marriage and divorce rates in Europe, Protestant missionary activity in Africa, and their belief in the civilizational superiority of the Islamic world over the West. Polygamy was not