Is Polygamy a Sunnah?

This was a fatwa from Darul Uloom Deoband on polygamy some years ago.

Question: 38097 India

I am married since last 9 years and have 2 children. During my college days I had one way love on a Muslim girl but she did not accept it then. But today after so many years she is not getting married due to some problem with her hair, she has lost 2-3 inches hairs from front and due to which she is not getting married and now we are again in contact and again I gave her my proposal for marriage and she accepted it and now we are planning to get married, she has no problem of me married, also she knows that I have 2 children and then also she is ready. So please advice me whether it will be good for me to marry second time?

Answer: 38097 Apr 10,2012

(Fatwa: 776/655/B=1433)

According to Shariah, it is lawful to keep two wives at the same time but it is not generally acceptable in Indian custom. Here in India it is like to invite hundreds of problems to keep two wives. Moreover, the husband generally cannot maintain justice and equality between two wives. Hence it is better to have only one wife as the Quran said:

فان لمَ تَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً

You should discard the idea of second marriage; otherwise you would feel sorry later.

Allah (Subhana Wa Ta�ala) knows Best

Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband

It is also the position of the Shafii and Hanbali schools of Islamic thought that it is best and also sunnah to restrict oneself to only one wife.

The reasoning their scholars provided for that is that injustice between two wives is haram, therefore it is better to avoid the risk of committing injustice in polygamy by avoiding polygamy altogether, even if one believes that he can be equitable between two women.

Here are some of the quotes from classical works of these scholars.

Ash-Shaafi�i is of the view that it is desirable to confine oneself to marrying only one although it is permissible for him to marry more than one. This is to avoid being unfair by being more inclined to some of them than others, or being unable to financially support them. [al-Hawi al-Kabir 11/417]

Ash-Shirbeeni from the Shaafi�i School of jurisprudence, said in Mughni al-Muhtaj 4/207: �It is a Sunnah not to marry more than one wife if there is no apparent need.� [End of quote]

Moreover, Al-Maawardi, from the Shaafi�i School of jurisprudence, said: �Allaah has permitted a man to marry up to four wives, saying: {�two or three or four�}, but Allaah advised that it is desirable for man to marry only one wife, saying: {�But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one} [al-Hawi al-Kabir 11/417]

Ibn Qudaamah may Allaah have mercy upon him from the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, said in Ash-Sharh Al-Kabeer: �It is more appropriate to marry only one wife. The author of Al-Muharrar [i.e. Abul Barakaat Al-Majd ibn Taymiyyah] said this, based on the saying of Allaah (which means) {�But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one}.� [End of quote from Ash-Sharh Al-Kabeer authored by Shams-ud-deen Ibn Qudaamah]

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen may Allaah have mercy upon him said: �It is safer to restrict oneself to only one wife. However, if one sees that one wife is not enough for him and he cannot maintain his chastity by having only one wife, then we enjoin him to marry a second, a third, or a fourth, until he feels comfortable, lowers his gaze, and enjoys peace of mind.� [Excerpt from Ash-Sharh Al-Mumti�]

Imam Ahmed ibn Naqib al Masri said ''It is fitter to confine oneself to just one�� [Umdatu Salik]

Imam Ghazali said in his kitab al nikah: �It does not call for two wives, [since] plurality may render life miserable and disrupt the affairs of the home.�

Also 99.99% of polygamous marriages which I have known have been a brutal catastrophe, especially in the West. Men abuse this a lot, thus tarnishing this institution. Many wives and children, especially the first wife are abused in polygamous marriages and many are even abandoned for a second wife.

This is the case with both practising Muslims -who often dump their wives on welfare benefits- and non-practising Muslims-many of whom even have illegitimate relationships with women before marrying them.

Edited by Aseer Magnesium - 19 September 2014 at 6:38pm

Sunnats are derived from holy Quran and in Surah Nisaa Allah SWT has not made it compulsory to marry more than once. But He allowed to marry those who have money and need to marry more than once providing they can do justice to all the wives.

So at best it is a conditional permission and is suitable for the periods of war when there are more women than men. Normally there is almost equal number of men and women and hence more marriages are not needed. Allah has given us wisdom to decide when to marry a second wife and when not!

But being husband for over 30 years, I would say only one
wife is enough

                        Muhammad Javed Kaleem