Mormon founder Joseph Smith had as many as 40 wives

Yahoo – AFP, 12 Nov 2014

People walk past the Salt Lake Temple of the Mormon church on April 5,

2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah (AFP Photo/George Frey)

Washington (AFP) - The founder of Mormonism, which for decades allowed polygamy, had as many as 40 wives including one who was only 14, the US-based church has acknowledged.

Joseph Smith (1805-1844), founded the Church of the Latter-day Saints, Mormonism's formal name, and is regarded by followers as a prophet.

The Mormon church said in an online essay last month that Smith is estimated to have had between 30 and 40 wives, some of whom were already married.

A statue in Salt Lake City, Utah of the founder of

 the Mormon Church Joseph Smith (1805-1844),

who founded the Church of the Latter-day Saints,

Mormonism's formal name, and is regarded by

followers as a prophet (AFP Photo/George Frey)

The New York Times, which first reported the disclosure Tuesday, said Smith probably did not have sex with all the wives because some were "sealed" to him only for the next life.

The Mormon essay said the oldest of the women "sealed" to Smith was 56, and the youngest was 14.

"Marriage at such an age, inappropriate by today's standards, was legal in that era, and some women married in their mid-teens," the Mormon essay states.

According to the essay, "an angel appeared to (Smith) three times between 1834 and 1842 and commanded him to proceed with plural marriage when he hesitated to move forward."

During the third visit, the angel supposedly threatened to kill Smith with a sword unless Smith obeyed the commandment.

The Times said Smith has long been portrayed by the church as a loyal partner to his first wife, Emma.

An official Mormon website says that today, "the practice of polygamy is strictly prohibited ... as it has been for over a century."

But polygamy was part of the church's teachings for 50 years during the religion's early days.

"Much of what you'll find in the essays on polygamy has been published in diverse sources and known among long-term and well-read members, historians and Church leaders for many years," Mormon spokesman Eric Hawkins told AFP.

"The Church has now gathered this information into a single location as a convenient means of placing these resources in the hands of all members."

The Mormon church has written several essays in recent months addressing contentious topics, including a ban on black people from becoming priests that was only lifted in 1978.

The Mormon church claims 15 million members worldwide, including six million in the United States.

The faith is also known internationally for its practice of sending young missionaries around the world.

In 1820, a 14-year-old Smith claimed he'd had a vision of God, while living in western New York state. The event went on to be seen as a founding moment in the history of Mormonism.

Facing persecution, Mormons moving westward eventually sought refuge in what is now Utah, making Salt Lake City their "capital." Followers of the faith are to this day concentrated in this western part of the United States.

Smith was killed by an angry crowd while in prison.

The essay on "plural marriage" can be viewed at: https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo

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Push to ordain Mormon women leads to excommunication

Malawi move to ban polygamy angers Muslims

BBC News

Muslims in Malawi have been angered by government plans to ban polygamy.

A spokesman for the Muslim Association of Malawi told the BBC the proposed law would discriminate against the country's Muslim minority.

He said with about 6% more women than men in Malawi, if polygamy were banned, many women would be left without a husband and become prostitutes.

The gender minister said the ban was necessary to prevent women from being abused in polygamous relationships.

She said problems occurred because men could not give their full attention to more than one woman.

"When a man has two, three, four wives, they are not co-operative - one will be the loved one," said Gender Minister Patricia Kaliati.

It had not been a hasty decision and there had been wide consultation about the matter, she said.

But Imran Shareef Muhammed - secretary general of the Muslim Association of Malawi - disputed this.

"The minister is lying - she didn't consult the Muslim community," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"We are totally rejecting it. There are also other ethnic groups [who practise polygamy] and they also totally reject this," he said.

"If these people go ahead banning polygamous marriages it means many women will go into prostitution.

"Every woman has the right to be under the shelter of a man."

He said under Sharia law, polygamy was optional.

"I have only one wife, my dear wife... but the moment they proceed with this, I will take a second wife," he said.

Should the ban come into affect, those already in polygamous marriages would not be affected, but those who flout it could face imprisonment, the minister said.

Marriage Lessons for New Couples

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, February 1, 2009

A couple say their vows at a mass wedding in Tangerang. (Photo: Prasetyo Utomo, Antara)

Alarmed that more Indonesians are divorcing over the contentious issue of polygamy, the central government is considering making premarital counseling mandatory for all couples planning to wed, a senior Ministry of Religious Affairs official said on Sunday.

Nasaruddin Umar, director general of religious guidance at the ministry, said that the number of women who cited polygamy as the reason for seeking divorce had risen from 813 in 2004 to more than 1,000 in 2008.

“On that basis, we’re considering compulsory pre-marriage counseling,” Umar told the Jakarta Globe.

The ministry will draft a regulation requiring all couples, regardless of their religious faith, to take a course to learn about the requirements of marriage before they tie the knot, he said.

“Couples who don’t have [a course] certificate will not be able to get married,” he said.

Umar said Indonesia was not the first country to adopt such a policy, noting that Christian churches in most countries required premarital counseling. However, that policy is generally not government mandated, whereas the Religious Affairs Ministry’s new policy would be a state regulation.

Statistics were not immediately available on the number of countries that legally require premarital counseling. China insists that couples take a premarital course, but it mainly provides information about contraception and HIV/AIDS.

Umar said that the ministry was working with several state Islamic universities across the country to formulate a curriculum for the premarital course.

“Hopefully, we can start by the end of this year,” he said.

While polygamy is legal in Indonesia, it remains an extremely sensitive issue, with proponents saying men have the right under Islamic law to have multiple wives, while women’s groups say the practice is discriminatory.

Government officials and lawmakers have from time to time debated this issue, with no result, though President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2006 extended a ban on civil servants engaging in polygamy unless they received permission from their superior and their first wife, according to presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng.

Under Article 4 of the Law on Marriage No. 1/1974, a husband may remarry up to three times if his wife gives her consent, or cannot meet her marital obligations. He is also allowed to take a new wife if his existing wife falls sick, is physically handicapped, or is unable to give birth. However, the government rarely enforces the restrictions.

Sri Nur Herawati, a consultation coordinator at LBH Apik, a legal aid institution for women, has called on the government to revise the law, saying if a wife refuses to allow her husband to marry another woman, he often marries illegally.