Senegal is considered as a country in which democratic system works very well, but polygamy is still a prevailing custom. Although the government of Senegal proposed the articles about women’s liberation in recent years, polygamy still exists. The reasons behind it are mostly due to the influence of Islamic culture.
The Quran pointed out: “If you are afraid of not being equitable with the orphans, then marry the women you like: two, three or four. But if you fear you would not act with justice, then marry just one or with a few of your slaves. Thus, you will be off doing evil.” It’s not difficult to find that Islam promotes and encourages polygamy. In Islamic countries, polygamy is widely recognized. Especially in rural areas and tribes, it has been preserved as an “old tradition”.
As an old tradition, polygamy has its deep historical reasons. Polygamy embodies the features of patriarchy marriage form, stressing that male is the leading role in the process of social production. Also because of this, man with dominant position in politics and economy has more opportunities of reproduction, and polygamy gathers the resources of human reproduction. It is consistent with the enlightenment in the Quran which specifies that man can carry more than one wife for reproduction. Reproduction and expanding their own family became the reason for most Arabic countries who promotes polygamy. The wealth of Maasai man is measured by the number of his wives, and the purpose of marriage is to have children. The motive of making the family blood sustainable makes many African countries still stick to polygamy.
塞内加尔曾被认为是民主制度实行得较好的国家，但一夫多妻制仍然作为一种风俗流传。虽然近几年塞内加尔政府提出了有关妇女解放的条款，但仍未取消一夫多妻制。其背后的原因很大一部分受伊斯兰教文化的影响。
《古兰经》指出:“你们可以择娶你们爱悦的女子，各娶两妻、三妻、四妻；如果你们怕不能公平对待她们，那么你们只可以各娶一妻，或以你们的女奴为满足。这是更近与公平的。”不难看出，伊斯兰教是不反对和鼓励“一夫多妻”制。在伊斯兰教国家，“一夫多妻制”得到了广泛认可，尤其在农村和部族当中一直被认为是“古老传统”而得以保留。
“一夫多妻”制作为一种古老的传统，有其深刻的历史原因。“一夫多妻”制体现的是父权制婚姻形式的特点，强调男人在社会生产过程中拥有主导地位。也正因为此，在政治与经济上占有主导地位的男性拥有更多的繁育机会，“一夫多妻”制为人类繁衍集中了资源。而这也与穆罕默德的《古兰经》中的启示一样:“‘一夫多妻’原则，是为了繁衍种族。繁衍后代，壮大家族势力，成为大多数阿拉伯国家奉行“一夫多妻”制的原因。在马赛，男人的财富以妻子的数量来衡量，娶妻的目的就是为了生孩子。家族香火永旺的推动力，让很多非洲国家仍然坚持“一夫多妻”的传统。
Wives and concubines symbolize fortune and social status. Yoruba people of Nigeria have always believed “wives are the symbol for wealth”. In their eyes, wealth cannot compete with “wives in the house”. The more the wives, the higher the social status is. An emir called Arribhuka in Nigeria owns over 400 wives. Moreover, emirs of Unyoro usually marry 10 to 15 wives, otherwise it won’t match the status of being an emir. In the slave society and feudal society of China, slave masters and emperors adopted the polygamy in the form of taking concubine, and the number of concubines symbolized their wealth and social status. To some extent, it was also a form of polygamy.
The reporter found in the interviews that isolated ethnic group is more likely to keep the tradition rooted in their blood and form featured marriage culture and marriage pattern. “I have 15 wives, and I’m not lying”, said proudly a young Mosuo man in the performance “Lijiang Impression” directed by the Chinese well-known director Zhang Yimou. Mosou is a special social group in China, and they are the only matriarchal clan society in China at present. They adopt the system of “walking marriage” in which “man and woman do not get married”. If young man and woman are fond of each other, the man will go to the woman’s house at night and return home before the dawn. In general, a man may have sexual intercourse with many women. Although this kind of “marriage” is not real marriage in legal term, it exists and is accepted as a form of marriage by the people.
另外，妻妾成群被视为一种财富和地位的象征。尼日利亚的犹罗巴族人一直信奉“妻子是财富的象征”。在他们的眼里，家财万贯抵不上“家有众妻”，妻子越多，地位就越高。尼日利亚有位名叫阿莱布卡的酋长，拥有的妻子多达400个。此外，据称乌尼奥罗人（Unyoro）一般酋长须娶妻10～15人，否则便与其酋长地位不相称。在中国奴隶社会和封建社会中，奴隶主和封建主公开实行以纳妾为主要形式的多妻制，并以妻妾的多少作为财产和地位的象征。某种程度上，这也算是“一夫多妻”制的一种形式。
记者在走访中发现，与外界基本隔离的民族，容易保存植根于人们血液中的传统，形成特色的婚姻文化和婚姻形态。“我有15个老婆，我不骗你。”在中国著名导演张艺谋导演的《印象丽江》的表演中，一个年轻的摩梭男子高调地向观众宣告他的荣耀。摩梭人是中国现今社会一个特殊的群体，他们是当前中国唯一的母系氏族社会，实行“男不娶，女不嫁”的“走婚”制度。成年男女青年若彼此中意，男方就晚上去到女方家，在天亮前又回自己家，通常一个男子跟多名女子发生性关系。虽然，这种“婚姻”形态，不算是真正法律意义上的婚姻，但作为一个族群的“婚姻”形态为人所认同。
Nothing is absolute right or wrong. There are both opponents and supporters. In 2011, a group of Malaysian Islamic women established a society called “Club for Wives with Complete Submission”. In order to please their husbands, they take course like sex education in the club. In their opinion, it will help to reduce social problems such as cheating, divorce, and domestic violence.
Supporters of “polygamy” even believe that just because they can marry many wives, the world of Arabic men never has sexual depression and sexual craving, and that’s why the incidence rate of sex crime is much lower than the eastern and western world. Less sex crimes mean the lower occurrence of AIDS, which is also a benefit brought by polygamy.
事事无绝对，有反对者，也有赞同者。据了解，2011年，一群马来西亚伊斯兰女性成立了“千依百顺妻子俱乐部”，为了取悦丈夫，她们在俱乐部里学习性教育等课程。在她们看来，这将有助于减少社会问题，如不忠、离婚和家庭暴力等。
“一夫多妻”制的维护者甚至认为，正是因为可以娶多位妻子，阿拉伯男人的世界才几乎不存在性压抑、性饥渴，性犯罪的发生率才会远远低于西方和东方人。而性犯罪少，艾滋病的发病率也会低，这也被认为是好处之一。
