According to a report on the NPR program All Things Considered, polygamy is a rare, but quietly present practice in the United States by Muslims. In the report, Muslim women from Guinea discuss the pro’s and con’s of the practice in Islamic contexts – that the husband cannot favor one wife over another, either in love or in how he provides for her, but citing the impossibility of this dilemma. Daisy Khan, who is head of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, says that polygamy is more common among conservative, less educated immigrants largely from Africa and Asia, and more rare among middle-class Muslims from the Middle East. Khan adds that imams generally do not conduct background checks on grooms to check their marital status in their native country. While polygamy in Islam is a blessing according to some because it allows for the having of more children, Abed Awad, a family law attorney says that many men often forget the major responsibilities that go with the practice.
