Polygamy has been a long lasting tradition since Adam's time especially in Africa.
Nana Kwasi Akuffo, a former paramount chief of Akuapim was known to have married sixty two(62)
recognized wives in each of the seventeen towns with 127 children, 142 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren ~Akuapim Handbook~
Also, a Kenyan man, Akuku Danger was known to have married 100 wives and countless children.
Polygamy has two forms: polygyny denotes a man marrying two or more wives whiles polyandry is when a woman marries two or more men. The latter seems extremely rare in Africa.
Today, most societies are not engaging themselves in the practice consequent to increasing urbanization, economic downfalls and numerous drawbacks.
As an excerpt from "Some aspects of social structure in Ghana" depicts "Although polygyny is permitted in many of societies of Ghana, monogamy is the statistical norm.
In the Post Enumeration Survey, mates were monogamously married, 20% had two wives and 5% had three wives. It is only in the Northern region and in the Volta region that the proportion of males with more than one wife exceeds the national average".
In Ghana, and in most countries around the world, majority of Christians abhors polygyny, both Catholics and protestants. As the book of "Some aspects of social structures in Ghana" says "The Euro christian ideal of chastity outside marriage does not fit in very well with traditional situation in which the male is free to have many concurrent marriages".
They use 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 3:12 and 1 Corinthians 7:2 to support their claim.
However, in Biblical era, there were persons known to be polygamist.
Evident amongst them are Abraham, Jacob, Solomon and Lamech.
Abraham and Jacob were known to have married for a specific reason. Abraham married Hagar after Sarah recommended it. Jacob married Leah because he was tricked into it by Laban likewise Bilhah and Zillpah at the advice of his first two wives.
Other instances where the Bible indicates polygamy include Gen 4:19 "Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah", Judges 8:30 "Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives".
Palpably, these shows that the Bible does not condemn the practice of polygyny.
It (the Bible) goes ahead to guide man should he decide to take another wife. Exodus 21:10 "If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing and marital rights".
This of course would require a person who decides to be a polygamist to be financially strong because he would have to in many cases provide the same housing and care for all wives.
Even the godfather of protestant reformation recognizes polygamy.
An excerpt from Wikipedia showing Martin Luther's recognition of polygamy.
"During the protestant reformation in a document referred to simply as "Der Beichtrat" or the confessional Advice, Martin Luther granted the landgrave Philip of Hesse who for many years, had been living constantly in a state of adultery and fornication a dispensation to take a second wife.
The double marriage was to be done in secret, however to avoid public scandal. Some fifteen years earlier in a letter to the Saxon chancellor Gregor Bruck, Luther stated that he could not forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict the scriptures".
The confusion and argument here, I leave that to the scholars and clergies.
Also, in the Islamic religion, polygyny is allowed to a maximum of four(4) wives.
Prophet Mohammed had nine wives, but not all at the same time.
The Qu'ran unequivocally states that if men decides to marry many wives, he must deal with them justly, if not then he should marry one.
Although many Muslim countries still retain traditional law that sanctions polygyny, secular elements within some Muslin societies challenge its acceptability.
Countries such as Azerbaijan, Tunisia and Turkey prohibits polygyny because they have not adopted Islamic law for marital regulation
As it has being demonstrated above, the Torah in the Jewish religion does not forbid a man from having multiple wives. As the Jewish Rabbi Naftali Silberg noted in his article, a noted German scholar Rabbi |Gershom "The light of the Diaspora" banned polygamy.
It was accepted as law by Ashkenazic Jews but not the Sephardic and Yemenite communities.
He aslo noted that it is nonexistent among Sephardic Jews owing to the fact that majority live in societies where polygamy is not legally or socially acceptable.
In his article he cited various reasons for Rabbi Gershom ban on polygamy but also indicated the loopholes where a man can marry a second wife under certain extenuating circumstances.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman in his article also says "Even the very verse in which the Torah provides a green light for polygamy frames it within an undesirable circumstances: if a man will have two wives, one beloved and the other hated...". Then why make room for trouble?
Apparently, various religious scriptures does not necessarily forbid polygamy.
In any case, I think the practice should not be the norm especially in today's world because of economic difficulties and the numerous problems that already comes with polygamy such as infighting between wives, which also leads to the transgression of G-d's law.
The reason for the practice being nonexistent should not be associated with any religious perception or reason but secular reasons.
