妻たちを平等に扱えない…移動制限で一夫多妻が困難に　クウェート

【クウェート市ＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルス対策で厳格なロックダウン（都市封鎖）が実施される中、アブ・オスマンさん（45）は数千人のクウェート人男性と同様に、別々の家に暮らす2人の妻に時間を割くのに苦労している。（写真は資料写真）
　２人の妻との間に１０人の子どもを持つオスマンさんはＡＦＰに、「私の人生はとても複雑になった」と語った。「私は常に妻たちの間を行き来している」として、２人の妻のどちらか一方を選ぶことは絶対にできないと強調した。
　クウェートは５月初旬、同月３０日まで全国的に「完全な」ロックダウンを実施すると発表。民間および公共部門で必要不可欠な場合を除き、すべての活動を停止している。
　ロックダウンの期間中は当局から電子許可証を取得すれば、住民は６日に１度だけ食料購入のために外出することができる。また、夕方に２時間の散歩に出ることも可能だ。
　家以外でのマスク着用義務を含めこうした規則に従わない場合は、最大で１万６０００ドル（約１７０万円）の罰金と最長３月の禁錮が科せられる。
　クウェート当局は１７日、オスマンさんのような複数の妻がいる人々から移動制限の緩和を求める声が多く寄せられているとして、このような男性に対し週に２回、１時間の訪問を認める電子許可制度を導入した。
　伝統的なイスラム法学は、イスラム教徒の男性は最大４人の妻と結婚できると定めている。ただ、男性はすべての妻に平等かつ公平に接することを厳格に求めている。
　一夫多妻制は多くのイスラム教国で次第に一般的ではなくなってきている。チュニジアは１９５６年、イスラム教徒が多数派を占める国として初めて一夫多妻制を廃止した。
　ドーハ国際家族研究所（ＤＩＦＩ）の調査によると、クウェートは２０１０年から２０１５年まで、婚姻全体の８％以上が一夫多妻制を占めるなど、湾岸諸国の中でもその割合が最も高い国の一つだった。

■難しい「妻選び」
　オスマンさんは最初の妻と２００１年に、２人目の妻と２００６年に結婚した。２人の妻は、首都クウェート市から４０キロ西に位置する、湾岸諸国の遊牧民ベドウィンが多く住むアルジャフラで別々の家に住んでいる。
　オスマンさんは世界全体が事実上ほぼ閉鎖されている状況で、両方の妻が疎外感を覚えないように懸命に努力していると述べた。しかし、新型ウイルス感染拡大の防止を目的とした移動制限などによって、自分の時間を二つの家で均等に分けるのに苦慮しているという。
　一方、クウェートのイスラム法学者たちは、ロックダウン中の婚姻のあり方を明確にするのに苦労している。
　クウェート紙アルライによると、同国イスラム問題省傘下のファトワ委員会で委員を務めるアハマド・クルディ氏は、「一夫多妻制の夫婦で、移動規制によって１人の妻の家に住むことを余儀なくされている夫は、他の妻（たち）にそれに同意するか、もしくは（妻の要望に応じて）離婚するかの選択肢を与えなければいけない」と述べた。
　また、同委員会のイーサ・ゼキ氏は同紙に対し、移動制限が解除された後、夫は他の妻の家での滞在を増やすことで、それぞれの妻の家で過ごす日数を等しくし、「埋め合わせ」をすることができると語った。
　ゼキ氏は、移動制限期間にどの妻と過ごすかを簡単に決めたいのなら、妻のうちの１人を無作為に選ぶことを夫に提案している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/05/29-12:35）

Abu Othman, like thousands of Kuwaiti men, has struggled to split his time between two wives living in separate homes amid the Gulf state's strict lockdown to combat the coronavirus.
My life has become so complicated, the 45-year-old, who has 10 children between the two women, told AFP.
I am constantly on the move between them, he said, stressing that he could never choose one wife over the other.
The oil-rich country has imposed some of the strictest measures in the Gulf to combat the spread of the virus, which has so far infected over 15,000 people and claimed 118 lives there.
Last week, Kuwait announced a nationwide total lockdown until May 30, suspending all but essential private and public sector activities.
Under the curfew, residents are allowed to shop for food only once every six days, after electronically obtaining official permission, and may otherwise leave home for two-hour evening walks.
Those who break the rules, which also include mandatory use of face masks outside the home, can be fined as much as $16,000 and jailed for up to three months.
But in response to appeals by scores of polygamists like Abu Othman to ease their restrictions on movement, the Kuwaiti authorities on Sunday introduced electronic permits to men married to more than one woman for one-hour visits twice a week.
- 'Family emergency' -
Traditional Islamic jurisprudence allows Muslim men to marry up to four women -- a custom initially meant to ensure the welfare of widows and orphans of those who had died fighting for Islam.
A strict requirement is that men treat all their wives equally and fairly.
Abu Othman married his first wife in 2001 and his second wife in 2006.
The two women live in separate houses in Al-Jahra, a predominantly Bedouin area 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Kuwait City.
Polygamy has become increasingly uncommon in much of the Muslim world. Tunisia was the first predominantly Muslim country to abolish the practice in 1956.
Kuwait had one of the highest rates of polygamy in the Gulf between 2010 and 2015, at over eight percent of marriages, according to a study by the Doha International Family Institute.
Abu Othman said he was trying hard to make sure neither of his wives feels neglected, especially amid a crisis that has seen much of the world virtually shut down.
But with all the restrictions in place to curb COVID-19, he said he has struggled to divide his time equally between the two homes.
Sometimes police patrols understand my situation, while at other times I have to apply for permission claiming there is a 'family emergency', said Abu Othman before the new second wife permission was introduced.
- Separated from children -
The Kuwaiti state's Islamic scholars have taken pains to clarify the marriage rules amid the lockdown.
According to Ahmad al-Kurdi, a member of the Fatwa Committee at Kuwait's Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, the notion of justice between wives focuses on marital spending and good treatment, not sexual relations and love.
A polygamist who is forced to live at one of his wive's houses because of the curfew must give the other (or others) a choice between accepting it or agree to a divorce (if they so wish), he said, according to Kuwait's Al-Rai newspaper.
Another committee member, Issa Zeki, told the daily that a man can make it up to his other wives by spending more nights at their homes after the lifting of restrictions to equal the number spent with each wife.
He suggested that the man blindly draw one of the wives' names to simplify the decision of which one to spend the quarantine period with.
Abu Othman said he tries to spend equal numbers of nights in both homes, saying he considers himself lucky that the two women live in the same area.
Other men are not so lucky, such as Abu Abdulaziz, 35, who now lives with his parents, second wife and two children in Al-Jahra.
His first wife and their three children reside in the Saad Al-Abdullah area, about 15 kilometres away.
For the first time, I haven't seen some of my children, Abu Abdulaziz told AFP, adding that his first wife was understanding.
However, Abu Abdulaziz's first wife, who requested anonymity, said that despite trying to be understanding, she was struggling on her own amid the current situation.
He could have chosen to stay with me, she said.