Russia’s Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) has revoked a fatwa permitting religious polygamy following objections from the Prosecutor General’s Office and public backlash. The fatwa, issued on December 19 by the Council of Ulama, allowed Muslim men to marry up to four wives under specific conditions, such as a wife’s inability to have children due to health or age, or refusal to bear children. The ruling required all wives to be informed of one another’s existence, granting women the right to divorce if this condition was violated.
As per Middle East Monitor, the council defended the fatwa, claiming it aligned with Islamic traditions and focused solely on religious relationships, not formal civil marriages prohibited by Article 14 of Russia’s Family Code.
Deputy Chairman and Moscow Mufti IldarAlyautdinov argued that it aimed to support women and children in religious unions without conflicting with state laws on marriage registration.
However, on December 23, the Prosecutor General’s Office formally requested its annulment, citing conflicts with Russian legislation and state family policies that promote traditional values. An unnamed Interfax source stated, “The state respects the internal regulations of religious organisations if these regulations do not contradict the legislation of the Russian Federation.”
The source also recalled that in accordance with Articles 38 and 72 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the family and the institution of marriage is defined as “a union of a man and a woman are under the protection of the state.”