A man mud
cohabitequ ally
with all his
wives:
but the mode
of partition is
left to him-
felf.
C H A P . VI.
Of KiJJin, or Partition *.
I f a man have two or more wives, being all free women, it is in-
cumbent upon him to make an equal partition o f his cohabitation
among them, whether he may have married them as virgins or as
Siyeebas, or whether fome of them be of the former defeription, and
others of the latter;— becaufe the prophet has faid, “ The man wk
“ hath two wives, and who, in partition, inclines particularly to one
“ o f them, Jhall in the day o f judgment incline to one J id e f (that is to]
fay, Jhall be paralytic;) and it is recorded by Ayfha that he made fuel)
equal partition of cohabitation among his wives,— faying “ O God,
“ I thus make an equal partition as to what is in my power; do not .
“ therefore bring me to account f i r that which is not in my power,"
(by which he means the affehlions, thefe not being optional.)
T he wife of a prior marriage, and a new wife, are alike in this
point, becaufe the tradition above cited is general in its application, and
alfo, becaufe partition is one of the rights of marriage, and in theih
both deferiptions pf wives arg equal.
I t is left to the hulband to determine the meafurg pf partition;
that is to fay, i f he .choofe, he may fix it at ope day of cohabitatidii
with each of his wives, fucceffively, pr more: and it is alfo to be remarked
that by the equality of partition incumbent upon the hufband
* By KiJJbi is underftood that equal partition of cohabitation which a hulband is required,
by law, to make among his wives, where he has a plurality of them.
IS
is to be underftood limply refdence, but not coition, as the latter muft:
depend upon the erection of the virile member, which is not a mat-
ter of option, and therefore, like the affections, not always in the
hufband’s power.
If a man be married td two wives, one of them a free woman, h B hS
and the other a {lave, he muft divide his time into three portions, co- "tfresare
habiting two portions with the former and one with the latter, becaufe rank or de-
the fame is recorded of A lee; and alfo, becaufe, as it is lawful to
marry a free woman upon a Have, but not a Have upon a free woman*, cordingiy.
it hence appears that the rights of the former in marriage are fhort of
thofe of the latter.— And a Mokdtiba, Moddbbira, or Am-Walid, are,
with refpeCt to their right of partition, the fame as fiaves.
W omen have no right to partition whilft their hufband is upon a Partition«
journey, and hence, during that period, it is at his option to carry bent whilft
along with him whomfoever he pleafes; but it is preferable that he
caufe them to draw lots, and take with him oil the journey her upon HtJ-
whom the lot may happen to fall.— Shafe'i fays that the determination
of this point by lots is incumbent upon the hufband, becaufe
it is recorded of the prophet, that whenever he intended a journey
he caufed his wives thus to draw lots.— Our doctors, however,
alledge that the prophet’ s reafon for this was only that he might fa-
tisfy the minds o f his'wives; wherefore drawing lots is laudable
merely, becaufe a man’s wives have no claim whatfoever to partition
during the period of their hufband being on a journey, fince he is at
liberty not to carry any of them along with him, and confequently it is
lawful for him to take any one of them.
T he time of a journey is not to be counted againft a hufband ;—
that is to fay, he is under no obligation, on his return, to make up
By marrying one woman upon another is to be underftood a man marrying a woman
w en he is already poflefled of a wife; the expreffion is merely idiomatical.
V ol. I. B b for