Just cause you can find some Shaykh to issue a fatwa saying she can't retaliate does not make it so. I would be more impressed if you provided documentation of what you say from the Orthodox Church since unlike Islam they have an hierarchical structure to determine these. There is a surih where the Qur'an provides four steps a man should take if he believes his wife is unfaithful before divorcing her. There is a debate as to whether the final step before divorce which says daraba means to beat or to separate. But most of the scholars who insist it means to beat insist it should be done with nothing bigger than a siwaq (toothbrush.) The Qur'an allowed up to four marriages in order to care for widows and orphans but only if you can treat them all equally, something most Muslims would admit is impossible. But if it was so wrong why did the Tanakh not prohibit it? As for the NT it only restricts the number of wives church leaders may have. (Timothy and Titus.) Monogamy was a Roman practice. Christianity readily adopted it, not for the protection of women bu because it felt marriage was the second best choice after celibacy (better to marry than to burn.)
Islam also does have its own ulema who judge based on Quran and Sunnah. You know how hard a Siwaq is? They aren’t tooth brushes they are pieces of wood and when they are used for beating they are used as branches of wood not as the size used for teeth cleaning. Actually if you read the Old Testament it shows God was unhappy with Solomon for his marriage of multiple wives. According to Jews Polygamy was and is not considered ideal. The Tanakh doesn’t forbid or allow polygamy, it was just considered culturally acceptable at the time.
Ephesians 5:22-33 speaks of the relationship between husbands and wives. When referring to a husband (singular), it always also refers to a wife (singular). “For the husband is the head of the wife [singular] … He who loves his wife [singular] loves himself. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [singular], and the two will become one flesh....Each one of you also must love his wife [singular] as he loves himself, and the wife [singular] must respect her husband [singular].” Christianity is based on Jewish principles, Romans also condoned homosexuality and sex, fornication was also considered acceptable. Christianity is based on Jewish laws and Jewish practices which brought the scorn of many Romans.
The key clauses are "you will not be able to do justice to the orphans" and "you may marry two or three or four women whom you choose." Maududi (d. 1979) is a respected traditional and conservative commentator on the Quran. So we should let him explain what they mean. He says that the clauses accomplished three things:
First, in pre-Islamic Arabia, guardian men married the orphan girls under their care, so the Quran says that they should direct their attention to women other than the orphans.
Second, in pre-Islamic days men used to marry a limitless number of women and grab the property of their orphan nephews and nieces to support their wives.
Third, in pre-Islamic days, men could marry as many women as they wanted and "treat them cruelly and unjustly" with impunity. So the Quran limits the number to four, and only if the man could keep care of them all: "But if you apprehend that you might not be able to do justice to them."
Maududi concludes that probably all three correctives were intended by this verse (vol. 1, pp. 306-07, note 4).
Also, the clause "marry those who have fallen in your possession" means slave-girls who were
captured in a war. Men may "marry" them because slaves do not incur very much expense, not as much as free women do. Maududi paraphrases the meaning of the clause: "If you need more than one [wife] but are afraid that you might not be able to do justice to your wives from among the free people, you may turn to slave girls because in that case you will be burdened with less responsibilities" (note 6). This is not surprising, since the slave-girl was sexual property (see Sura 4:24). This means that the limit of four wives is artificial. Men could have sex with as many women as they wanted from among their slaves.
Despite these different conditions, we should step back and look at the big picture. It may be true that Muhammad was curtailing the polygamous custom of Arabs who lived around him, but he did not go far enough. A man may "marry" four wives, but have sex with his slave-girls, and the number of these latter is not limited. According to the timeless and universal Quran, therefore, Muslims today have the right to practice polygamy. Wherever Islam engages in the slave trade or captures women prisoners of war, Muslims may have sex with them.
Muhammad and the treatment of wives
