Marrying more than one Woman

Islam is a way of life consonant with nature, providing humansolutions
to complex situationsand avoiding extremes. This characteristic of
Islam can be observed most clearly in its stand concerning the taking
ofmore than one wife. Islampermitsthe Muslim to marry more than one
woman in order to resolve some very pressing human problems,
individual as well as social.
Many peoples and religions prior to Islam permitted marriage to a host
of women, whose number reached tens and sometimes hundreds, without
any condition or restriction. Islam, on the other hand, laid
downdefinite restrictions and conditions for polygamy. With regard to
the restriction, it limited tofourthe maximum number of wives a man
might have.
When Ghailan al-Thaqafi accepted Islam, he had ten wives. "Choose four
of them and divorce the rest," the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him)
told him (Reported by al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn
Abi Shaybah, al-Darqutni, and Bayhaqi).
Similarly, some men who hadeight(Reported by Abu Daoud in his Musnad.)
orfive wivesat the time ofembracing Islamwere told by the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be on him) to retainonly four(Reported by Ahmad,
al-Darimi, Ibn Hibban, al-Hakim, and the compilers of Sunan (Abu
Daoud, al-Nisai, and Ibn Majah).)
The case of the Prophet (peace be on him), who himself had nine wives,
was exempted from this by Allah (SWT) for the sake ofda'wah (the
propagation of the message of Islam)during his lifetime and because of
theneed of the Muslim ummah after his death.
Justice Among Wives - A Condition
The condition which Islam lays down for permitting a man to have more
than one wife isconfidenceon his part that he will be able todeal
equitablywith histwo or more wivesin the matter of food, drink,
housing, clothing and expenses, as well as in the division of his time
between them. Anyone wholacks the assurancethat he will be able to
fulfill all these obligations with justice and equality isprohibited
byAllah (SWT) from marrying more than one woman.
Allah (SWT) says:
"...But if you fear that you will not be able to do justice (among
them), then (marry) only one...." ( Surah 4: Verse 3)
And the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) said,
"Anyone who has two wives and does not treat them equally will come on
the Day of Resurrection dragging one part of his body which will be
hanging down." (Reported by the compilers of Sunan and by Ibn Hibban
and al-Hakim.)
Theequal treatmentmentioned here pertains to therights of the wives,
not to the love the husband feels towed them. For equality in the
division of love is beyond human capacity and any imbalance in this
regard is forgiven by Allah Ta'ala who says:
"And you will not be able to do justice among (your) wives, however
much you may wish to. But do not turn away (from one of them)
altogether...." ( Surah 4: Verse 129)
This is why the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used todivide his
time among his wives equally, saying,
"O Allah, this is my division in regard to what I can control. Then do
not take me to task regarding what Thou controllest and I do not
control" (Reported by the compilers of Sunan.), referring to the
attachment and affection which he felt for one particular wife.
And when he planned to go on a journey, Allah's Messenger (peace be on
him) would cast lots among his wives, and the one who was chosen by
lot would accompany him. (Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)