Women's Empowerment and Leadership Development for Democratisation

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Malaysia: Muslim women told they could include a 'no polygamy' clause in marriage contracts

Ms Noriani Nik Badli Shah, research manager of Sisters in Islam, an NGO which lobbies for the rights of Muslim women, said not many Muslim women were aware of this right, and those who did were discouraged from using it by social pressure.
She said that the Prophet Muhammad's great-grand-daughter Sakina Hussein included several conditions in her marriage contract, including that her husband would have no right to take another wife during their marriage. Muslim countries such as Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh have already adopted the ruling that a husband who agrees not to take another wife in his marriage contract would be bound by that stipulation.