Islamic court requires man to divorce 76 of his 80 wives or face the death penalty

Following on from yesterday's story about Mt Isa mayor John Maloney's suggestion that ugly women should consider moving to his town in order to address the town's chronic gender imbalance comes this story from Nigeria...

AN Islamic organisation in Nigeria has issued a death sentence on a man who married 80 women - many more than the maximum of four allowed by Islam.

The Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI), one of Nigeria's top Islamic bodies, said in a statement that Mohammadu Bello Masaba stood condemned to death unless he divorced 76 of the women in four days, The Guardian newspaper reported.

"Unless Masaba repents within four days and take only four wives from the herd he remains condemned to death, according to Sharia law," the statement said.

"Any Muslim who married more than the approved number of wives at a time either by mistake or out of ignorance is instructed to choose but only four and ask for Allah's forgiveness."

Since the return of Nigeria to civil rule in 1999 a dozen predominantly Muslim states in the north have re-introduced a strict version of the Islamic Sharia legal system.

Sharia law is often seen as more efficient and less bureaucratic and corrupt than Nigeria's secular courts.

The northern states pride themselves on applying a mild form of Sharia, with no deaths by stoning carried out and few amputations.

One question that immediately springs to mind is whether the 76 surplus women who are obviously having trouble finding a man for themselves shouldn't emigrate to Australia and go and live in Mt Isa.

The other point to ponder is the quandary that poor old Mohammadu Bello Masaba now finds himself in.

Should he divorce the 76 women required in order to avoid being put to death and live in relative spousal paucity with just four willing bints or should he join the jihad, die in glorious circumstances and go to his heavenly reward along with 72 newly minted virgins, rivers of wine and splendid, rolling hills?

He has three more days to make this difficult decision.

(Nothing Follows)