He certainly felt the evil of
polyamy so strongly as to restrict it in every possible way, except the
only right way--namely, the proclamation of the true ideal of marriage.
But his ignorance, mistake, sin, if you will, was a deflection from the
right law, from the true constitution of man, and therefore it avenged
itself. That chivalrous respect for woman, which was so strong in the
early Mohammedans, died out. The women themselves--who, in the first
few years of Islamism, rose as the men rose, and became their helpmates,
counsellors, and fellow-warriors--degenerated rapidly into mere
playthings. I need not enter into the painful subject of woman's
present position in the East, and the social consequences thereof. But
I firmly believe, not merely as a theory, but as a fact which may be
proved by abundant evidence, that to polygamy alone is owing nine-tenths
of the present decay and old age of every Mussulman nation; and that
till it be utterly abolished, all Western civilisation and capital, and
all the civil and religious liberty on earth, will not avail one jot
toward their revival. You must regenerate the family before you can
regenerate the nation, and the relation of husband and wife before the
family; because, as long as the root is corrupt, the fruit will be
corrupt also.
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