Nine of 15 Swedish Mosques Offered Help Marrying a Second Wife

UPPSALA - A sheikh in Uppsala offered to find witnesses who would not recognise the groom. In Helsingborg, a wife who objected to her husband's plans was talked into accepting a second wife.

Both conversations were caught on hidden camera when Swedish public broadcaster SVT's investigative programme Uppdrag granskning tested what answers an already married man gets when he turns to Swedish mosques.

Three people had already been removed from their roles or suspended before the programme aired.

The reporters contacted 15 mosques with the same story. The man and his wife had no children, and now he wanted to marry another woman. Could someone perform the wedding?

Six mosques said no, citing Swedish law and the requirement for a marriage impediment certificate from the Swedish Tax Agency.

In the other nine cases, an imam, sheikh or adviser offered to carry out the ceremony, or referred the man to someone else who could. According to the congregations' replies to SVT, some of those the reporters spoke to had no job or formal role at the mosque that put them in touch.

Witnesses who would not know him

At the Stenhagen mosque in Uppsala, the reporter met Masud Mohamad, who leads prayers and sat on the board of the foundation behind the mosque.

He was ready to perform the wedding and said the mosque could arrange witnesses who would not recognise the man. He also had advice on what to tell others.

"You don't need to mention that you found me."

After the investigation, Masud Mohamad has left the foundation's board.

At Uppsala Mosque, the reporter also got a yes. Imam Bashir Ahmed quoted the Koran when asked about a second wife: "Marry the women you find pleasing."

When SVT showed the footage to the mosque's chairman, Yaser Abu Jheisheh, he called the board to a crisis meeting that same evening. The board removed the imam from his post. "It hurts my heart," the chairman said.

The wife was talked round

In Helsingborg, the mosque's vice chairman referred the reporters to Sheikh Tarek Hussein, who had previously lectured on marriage.

Two reporters posing as husband and wife came for counselling. The woman made clear she opposed her husband taking another wife. During the session, Hussein still persuaded her to go along with it, according to Uppdrag granskning.

Helsingborg Mosque says Hussein is not employed there and that his advice does not reflect its position. It will review who it refers people to.

A ceremony for 2,000 kronor

In Örebro, the answer changed overnight. The mosque first put the reporters in touch with adviser Abu Aous, who said on the phone that the wedding could be held "outside the mosque" for 2,000 kronor, about 185 dollars. The next day he texted that it had all been a misunderstanding.

When the reporters visited the mosque, the official in charge of weddings said no. The mosque's leadership says it rejects polygamy. Abu Aous has been suspended.

Four more mosques said they could not perform the wedding themselves but passed the man on. One imam reached that way offered to do the ceremony for 1,000 kronor.

Rosengård imam warned

The Gothenburg Mosque stresses that its imam explicitly refused. He did, however, suggest the reporter look for an imam without state authority to conduct marriages.

The Rosengård mosque in Malmö says it follows Swedish law and that its imam has received a written warning. In Rinkeby, Stockholm, the same man met the reporters inside the mosque twice. The leadership says he has no position there. The Bosnian mosque did not answer SVT's questions.

In Halmstad, imam Mouad Zamzam said he was willing to perform the wedding. He left the mosque this summer and says he has done nothing wrong.

No protection for the second wife

Under traditional Islamic law, a man may have up to four wives. Several Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey and Tunisia, ban polygamy.

In Sweden, bigamy is a crime punishable by fines or up to two years in prison. A religious ceremony performed by someone without legal authority creates no valid marriage, leaving the woman without the rights of a wife.

The Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency decides which faith communities may conduct legally binding weddings. Officiants must check the couple's impediment certificate and can lose their authority if they fail to.