Different Marriages: "And in That Day Seven Women Shall Take Hold of One Man"

Mainly there are two types of marriages, civil, and religious; typical marriages involve both and must be recognised and licensed by the state. In civil marriages government officials perform the ceremony. The religious marriage can be conducted in the church, mosque or any other religious gathering. In some societies the religious institutions do require civil marriage certificate before the marriage can be conducted by them.

We have varieties of marriages under the civil and religious ones, such as secret, part-time, common law and temporary marriages and many more.

Secret Marriages: They are marriages that happen in secret, usually is a civil marriage that allows a couple to marry without the record being opened to the general public, this can be done in front of a judge in a closed court session, after the marriage the judge will seal the certificate so that it can't be available to be seen by anyone. This kind of marriage is common among people that are in the public eye, it gives a sense of privacy and intimacy. With secret marriage the couple can request for a Confidential Marriage Certificate, since there are two types of marriage certificates: the confidential and public marriage certificates, so there is a choice.

Apart from the civil type of Secret Marriage, there are secret marriages that are associated with polygamy. A lot of married men do chose to have another wife elsewhere, hence we have a secret wife and husband. This is not known  to the wife at home. In most cases it's a mutual agreement between the secret husband and wife; could be verbal or written agreement. Unpleasantry may be attached because usually it's not a 'full time' affairs, so healthy jealousy always set in, but they enjoy and live life the way it comes.

Part-Time Marriage: This is a marriage whereby husband visits his wife occasionally, it's polygamous marital lifestyle. This type of marriage is the opposite of the traditional marriages whereby the husband caters for his wife and the whole family; in this type of marriage the wife caters for herself, the man is usually exempted or don't bother about financial commitment, only visits his wife occasionally for enjoyment and sex since is not a well laid out family. Only some men do support their part-time wives. In Islam this marriage is called Mesyar, some Islamic group see it as illegal because it doesn't give women the rights Islam demands from men (rights = to be well cared for by the husband).

This type of marriage was prophesied in the bible and it's in vogue now more than ever. "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach." - Isaiah 4:1

Common law marriage (Sui Juris): This is an informal marriage whereby no civil or religious marriage is conducted, but it has a legal backing, a legal framework whereby a couple is legally considered married because they live together for a certain period of time; other factors could be taken into consideration depending on the society.

Temporary marriage:  This is called Mutah in Islam, it's a marriage whereby there is a contract drawn for the duration of marriage, it may be renewed or both can become strangers to each other after the expiration of the contract.

I don't want to talk about Monogamy as a lifestyle, because practically it doesn't exist. Anyway, let me put it lightly, I have never seen one in totality. Even, when married to just one; what about the cheating, the girlfriends/boyfriends, secret wives/husbands and mistresses/masters?