Islam allows polygamy so that a man can satisfy his sexual desires, a Congress leader in coastal Karnataka claimed on Thursday.

The Dakshina Kannada district president Ibrahim Kodijal said this while addressing a media conference at the Congress office in Mangaluru on Thursday.

“If you ask me why Islam allows polygamy, say if the wife is unwell (including periods), she cannot have sex. The husband must not go to a sex worker. Because, Islam says you must not go to a sex worker, if you want, you can marry again. Islam allows for polygamy because it strongly opposes sex work.

However, he said that Islam only allows a man to take more than one wife if he is physically and financially capable of looking after the women he marries.

Ibrahim made these remarks at a media conference in response to a question on the Uniform Civil Code. He has been a staunch member of the Congress for 46 years.

In an interview to The News Minute in December 2015, Ibrahim made conservative remarks about women. He was among the organizers of an event hosting televangelist Zakir Naik (which was eventually cancelled).

In response to a question on Naik’s regressive views that women who are ‘skimpily’ dressed are more likely to be raped than women who ‘cover up’ wearing a burqa, Kodijal said that Islam forbade both Muslim men and women from revealing their bodies.

Explaining the logic, he made an apparent reference to an erection: “Men get sensation.” Asked if men should not be told to control their urges, he replied: “Have you seen the sisters’ (nuns’) dress? Women everywhere cover themselves. You see in Punjab, Gujarat, everywhere, women cover themselves up.”