Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-08-17
WIVES IN TURKEY.
Polysamy Not Common-Law Makes
II 100 Expensixe.

Iurk has several wives, that he is at
liberty to marry as many times as he
likes. and that it is for him lust as
easy to divorce a wife as to change an
o~vercoat. Now %polygamy in Turkey
is the exception, and not the rule. the
majority of the Osmanils having only
one Wife. In the metropolis itself
polygamN does not amount to 5 per
cen 1t is very rarely met with in
other big centers of the Ottoman en-
plre. save among the richest and most
powerful functionaries. and ever then
plurality of wives is an exception.
The legal number of wives is four.
Only the padishah and khalif is al
lowed to have more. being a person be-
yond and above limitations and re-
strictions of that kind. The Prophet
Mohammed had seven wives, and Ali.
the fourth in the succession of the
khalifate. had nine.
One of the chief causes of the plu-
ralitN of wives being so rare among
the Turks is that. while the prophet
and the koran permit the faithful wor-
shippers OF Islam to marry -four times,
they also provide strict injunctions of
a religious and ethical nature, which
every Mussulman has to adhere to. If
he does not want to be excomlnuni-
Gated from the fold of orthodox Is
lamlSm. Thus. a Turk who is DESTROYS
OF contracting a second marriage is
bound by an explicit law to provide
for MS new life companion q separate
dwelling place i'm every respect SINH
lar to that OF his first wife. as we'll as
an equal number OF slaves. servants
and eunuches. This is done not only
for the sake OF the principle of equity,
so highly pronounced in Mohamme-
dan matrimonial relationships. but
Chiefly in order not to excite jealousy
and rivalry. The same principle must
he nh.SaVNa6 IL, t1,n fbtrJ nnJ fN,,r%k
marriage.
Another weishty reason for Turkish
monogamy is she practice of consul
binage. which is permitted by the sac
red writings of the Koran. In most
M~oha'nmcdan countries female slaves
are used rs cOncabineS. In Turkey
they even enjoy IA certain status. Some
tmes II contract is made betw cen the
e1f"ndi and his female slave, by which
she acquires certain rights and privi-
ieges and. not rarely. legal claims upon
part of his property.
Another reason for the rarity of
p~olyg3mous practices among Moslems
is the Very intricate character of the
wedding ceremony. The purely reli-
gious part of it is always small. mas
much as Il Turkish couple can be con-
sidered married III they express their
desire to be so liz he presence of one
witness and an imam" (priest). But
the difficult and costly conditions pre-
ceding this simple religious act have
at all lines been am obstacle. not only
to polysamy. but to marriage gener-
ally.
To begin with. a Turk deslrous to
marry has to hand over to his brides
parents a sun of between $50 and
$1,000. or even much more, according
to the means and social position of the
couple. in order to furnish the nuptial
chamber. Besides, the prospective
wife al nr,, n t,1S n In vrA ,,~,1a -4 -,.,
ents. Very often extremely costly and
frequently beyond the means of the
bridegroom.
The expense connected with the mar
Rage ceremony and with the frequent
receptions following are betrayed by
he tiancee. They require a large sum
of money. as they are always a costly
as we'll as a SNOWY business with the
Moslems. However poor a Turk may
be. he will try to make his wedding
day as memorable and as snowy an
event as he possibly can. He will
pawn all he possesses, he will beg. he
Will sell all his belongings. he will steal
in order not to be subjected to the OPP
probrium of having had a plain, u
wedding day.
The Osmanlis have two marriage
ceremonies. the one a kline of civil con-
tract, and the other following after a
more or less prolonged interval, and
called "Douyoun," which is the we'd
ding festival proper. Only after the
latter are the cOuple considered as
properly joined for conjugal life. Al
already indicated. there is no religious
marriage in the true sense
of the wore At the civil contract q
sum varying from $50 to $4,000, or more,
is decided upon by the parents OF the
bride and the bridegroom as compen
sation money to be laid aside for the
eVentuality OF divorce or separation.
1t is, Of course, natural that the par
ents should try to fix the sum at as
high a figure as possible in order to
safeguard their daughter from the pos
sible caprice and arbitrariness of their
soninlaw. All these difficult and costly
conditions make divorce among Turks
not at all a frequent occurrence. AS a
matter OF fact. statistics show that it
is less frequent in the Ottoman
dominions than in Christian countries.
Apart from polygamy and %concubin-
age there exist in Moslem countries,
especially in those peopled by the Shah
section of the Islam world, such as
Persia. certain strange marriages, by.
which a man can get d wife for only a
small. definite period of time, say a
month or two. h is performed in
the presence of a 'cadi" (judge). A
sum of money is deposited for the tenn
porary wife. to be taken away after
the expiration of the fixed conjugal
term. This is considered to be n,lita
a legal ceremony. and corresponds to
the Spanish "Casado de Media TARA.
Ii is called i'm Turkish 'Ilabin.'
Needed More Flavor.
I>ropo tho 4 opd0n OD;u;op