Q. Married In Polygamy

Dear BB,

With regards to your marriage to your future husband, it is only courtesy for him to ask his wife permission / agreement with regards to your marriage. There is no such law, but the Qur'an specifically states that men who choose this route must deal with their wives as fairly as possible, doing everything that they can to spend equal amounts of time and money on each one of them. If the husband cannot deal with his wives fairly, one is enough.

(Administration of Muslim Law Act. Cap. 3 - http://agcvldb4.agc.gov.sg/non...)

You can also read on the Women Charter. Cap. 353 from this web site Singapore Statues Online - http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/

However, the 1974 Marriage Act (Indonesia) prohibits the practice of polygamy except in cases where both women give their written permission - the first wife, and the (prospective) second wife - and when a court has allowed the second marriage to take place. Additionally such polygamous marriages can only occur where the first wife either cannot fulfill her (sexual) obligations to her husband, or cannot conceive a child, or suffers from a terminal illness.

This case is brought up by a Indonesian man challenging the court on his right to take another wife. You may read for yourself here (http://www.indonesiamatters.co.../)

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With regards to his employment pass and marriage to citizen of Singapore, it is best to ask Work Pass Division, Ministry of Manpower, 18 Havelock Road, Singapore 059764. (Tel: 6438 5122, web site: www.mom.gov.sg, email: mom_wpd@mom.gov.sg)

With regards to your eligibility as a couple, you can check at www.hdb.gov.sg under eligibility schemes.

Hope all these can clarify your questions.

Fir