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I had a muslim neighbor who rented an apartment across the street. He and I would talk about stuff and one of the topics was this business about polygamy. His take on it was that with all the wars and whatnot the muslims were involved in, many of the men were dying, leaving widows for the few remaining men. So that the widows could be taken care of, men were allowed to marry more than one woman if he could afford to support her. Also, this would allow the widow to have more children, to replace those killed.

It is not only in islamic societies that this view prevailed, it makes perfect sense.

Because we have a large population that replaces itself easily, and lots of wealth, comparitively, we view such arrangements as primitive and indulgent, as we promote monogamy. Apart from the indulgences practiced by muslim men who could get away with it, polygamy probably wasn't considered primitive and indulgent for most muslims in past centuries. It was necessary for survival of individuals and the state.