"Indonesia Cleric's Second Wife Issue Sparks Polygamy Debate"

Jakarta, Indonesia - A popular Indonesian Islamic cleric's decision to take a second wife has sparked a fiery debate about polygamy laws in the world's largest Muslim country where multiple marriages are only banned among civil servants.

The turban-clad but leather-jacketed Abdullah Gymnastiar's announcement prompted the government to consider extending the ban to lawmakers, a move that sent many legislators leaping to the defence of polygamy arguing that it is allowed under Islam.

"If the government wants to regulate polygamy, it has to do it correctly because Islam allows polygamy with some strict conditions," Ichwan Sam, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics, said.

"There should not be an impression that government regulations or laws are reducing religious teachings."

The controversy began when Gymnastiar, a 40-something preacher with the style of a televangelical and the fan following of a rock star, announced he had taken a second wife, unleashing a torrent of angry text messages and e-mails, media reports said.

"Polygamy is indeed allowed, but don't put lust above everything else" or "Don't sell out your religion", said some of the messages in response to Gymnastiar's second marriage.

Gymnnastiar, popularly called as "Aa Gym" or elder brother Gym, is a household name in Indonesia because of his relaxed sermons on Islam that strike a chord with ordinary people charmed by his chatty, youthful style and effervescent smile.

His moderate tone, use of hi-technology and hobbies such as riding Harley Davidsons set him apart from stereotypical clerics.

"Women tend to be monogamous, that's how their software is. But men, you know. . . their software is different," the Jakarta Post quoted Gymnastiar as saying in a sermon when asked if he had married again.

Women's activists say polygamy should be completely banned.

"In our marriage law, our principle is monogamy. . . but the law puts polygamy as an exit in the worst situation," Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a leading feminist lawyer and member of parliament, said.

"For me, polygamy is discrimination or like apartheid. If your husband doesn't like you he can get rid of you."

Though uncommon among ordinary Indonesians, polygamy has some prominent advocates such as restauranteur Puspo Wardoyo who has four wives, and has been at the forefront of a campaign to promote multiple marriages.

His popular chain of restaurants is known for items like "Polygamy juice", a mixture of four tropical fruits, and "Polygamy Vegetables, a four-vegetable combo.

But activists pushing for a ban on polygamy, which goes back to the Javanese sultans, say it is a form of female subjugation.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid's wife, Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, was a prominent opponent of multiple marriages. A little more than two years ago she led a group of protesters who blocked the delivery of packed lunches from Wardoyo's chain.

More recently, an arthouse film sparked some soul-searching with stories of three women in polygamous relationships: a rich doctor, a waitress and a poor shantytown girl.

"Although these women possess different feelings, some things are the same: the sadness and denials behind their smiles," Nia Dinata, the director of "Berbagi Suami", or sharing a husband, said in an interview some months ago.