Polygyny is legal
Polygyny is legal in certain regions (Indonesia only)
Polygyny is legal for Muslims only
Polygyny is illegal, but the practice is not criminalized
Polygyny is illegal and the practice is criminalized
Legal status unknown
- In Eritrea, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka polygyny is legal only for Muslims.
- In Nigeria and South Africa, polygynous marriages based on customary law are legally recognized for Muslims.
- In Mauritius, polygynous unions have no legal recognition. However, Muslim men may marry up to four women, but they do not have the legal status of wives.
Polygyny (/pəˈlɪdʒɪni/) is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (polugunía); from Ancient Greek πολύ (polú) 'many' and γυνή (gunḗ) 'woman, wife'.[1]
- ^ A Greek–English Lexicon, Liddell & Scott, s.v. γυνή