- published: 18 May 2007
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Polyandry (Greek: poly—many, andras—man) refers to a form of marriage in which a woman has two or more husbands at the same time. The form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers is known as "fraternal polyandry," and it is believed by many anthropologists to be the most frequently encountered form.
According to inscriptions describing the reforms of the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash (ca. 2300 BC), he is said to have abolished the former custom of polyandry in his country, on pain of the woman taking multiple husbands being stoned with rocks upon which her crime is written.
Polyandry in human relationships occurs or has occurred in Tibet; the Canadian Arctic; northern parts of Nepal; Nigeria;Bhutan; parts of India (Rajasthan; Ladakh; Zanskar); the Nymba; and some pre-contact Polynesian societies, though probably only among higher caste women in this last. It is also encountered in some regions of Yunnan and Sichuan regions of China, among the Mosuo people in China, and in some sub-Saharan African such as the Maasai people in Kenya and northern Tanzania and American indigenous communities. Polyandry has been practised in several cultures—in the Jaunsar–Bawar region in Uttarakhand, among the Toda of South India, and the Nishi of Arunachal Pradesh.[citation needed] The Guanches, the first known inhabitants of the Canary Islands, practiced polyandry until their disappearance. Polyandry was practiced in Celtic societies as women were allowed to own property and marry more than one husband. The Zo'e tribe in the state of Pará on the Cuminapanema River, Brazil, also practice polyandry. In other societies, there are people who live in de facto polyandrous arrangements that are not recognized by the law. Saskatchewan Canada is the only jurisdiction in North America to have "judicially sanctioned" polyandrous unions at a family law court level.[citation needed]
Zakir Abdul Karim Naik (Urdu: ذاکر عبدالکریم نائیک; born 18 October 1965) is an Indian public speaker on the subject of Islam and comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), a non-profit organisation that owns the Peace TV channel based in Dubai, UAE. He is sometimes referred to as a televangelist. Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a doctor. He has written two booklets on Islam and comparative religion. He is regarded as an exponent of the Salafi ideology; he places a strong emphasis on individual scholarship and the rejection of "blind Taqlid", which has led him to repudiate the relevance of sectarian or Madh'hab designations, all the while reaffirming their importance.
Zakir Abdul Karim Naik was born on 18 October 1965 in Mumbai, India. He attended St. Peter's High School in Mumbai. Later he enrolled at Kishinchand Chellaram College, before studying medicine at Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital and later the University of Mumbai, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS). His wife, Farhat Naik, works for the women's section of the IRF.
The Zo'é people (also known as Zo'é or the Marrying tribe) are a native tribe in the State of Pará, Municipality of Óbidos, on the Cuminapanema River, Brazil. They are a Tupi–Guarani people.
They are also known as the Poturu, Poturujara, or Buré. The term "Zo'é" means "us," as opposed to non-Indians or enemies. The term "Poturu" is the type of wood used to make embe'po labrets.
The Zo'é language belongs to Subgroup VIII of the Tupi-Guarani language family.
All Zo'e wear the poturu, a wooden plug piercing the bottom lip. The Zo'e have a tradition where new fathers have the backs of their calves cut with the 'tooth of a small rodent'.
The marriage rituals of the Zo'e are complex and not fully understood. It is not known how many wives or husbands one is allowed to have. Many women practice polyandry, one or more husbands may be "learning husbands"; young men learning how to be good spouses, in exchange for hunting for the rest of the family.