Polygamy

Polygamy (from Late Greek πολυγαμία, polygamía, "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at a time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry.

139228

Husband . Wife . Narrations . Gender . Polygamy . Akhlaq

In what specific matters does a husband need to maintain equality if he has more than one wife? What do the narrations say regarding a person who does not treat his two wives in the same manner?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer updated 3 weeks ago

Husband must maintain practical justice between his wives. Practical justice is in treating them and spending time with each of them equally like he spends time with his other wives. It also requires spending on each of them equally.
Wassalam.

133691

Polygamy . Man . Orphan . Women . Marriage

Is it true that polygamy is only allowed for a man to marry orphan women?

No. The main condition for a man to have more than one wife is the practical justice between them. Those men who are unable to have and keep this condition are not allowed but one wife.

'Wassalam.

127578

Man . Time . Polygamy . Mut'a (Temporary marriage)

A man can have four permanent wives at a time. Is it the same limit for Muta as well?

More than one wife needs practical justice between them. With out the practical justice, Muslim man is not allowed more than one wife. In Sura An-Nisa , verse 3: But if you fear that you will not deal justly with them, then just one wife.

Mut'a marriage is to save people from sinful sexual acts. It has many conditions which must be fulfilled.

Wassalam.

128897

Wife . Marriage . Western Society . Polygamy

Is it ok to secretly marry a second wife if the laws of the country, like in many countries in the West, does not allow marrying more than one wife at a time?

We are not dealing here with legal matters nor giving any legal advice. We are dealing with Islamic matters and reflecting the rulings of the leading scholars ( Maraaji' of Taqleed). Muslim should not break the law of the country where he lives unless it contradicts with his faith and religion.
Main matter in second marriage is fulfilling the Islamic conditions of practical justice between wives. If this condition is not fulfilled, second marriage will be not permissible in Islam.

If your question is a legal question, you should ask your legal adviser.

Wassalam.

115449

Polygamy

Can a man take a second wife only for getting visa of a country or just because she is rich?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 1 year ago

The marriage is legitimate according to Islamic law as you are actually intending to get married (that is, it is not sham or a joke). Certainly, both women and men marry for money, social status, or other perceived advantages all the time.

Ethically: Be sure to treat others as you would want them to treat you. Act in a way whereby you will feel secure standing before Allah in the next world and will have a clear conscience. Avoid other sins, such as lying, deception, or neglecting the financial, spousal, emotional, or other rights of either spouse. This may be difficult if you are trying to go to another country.

It is generally considered unmanly to leech off of a woman, and certainly from an Islamic perspective, it is your obligation to look after her financially, rather than vice versa.

At the same time, life is not ideal, and many people right now are dealing with joblessness and feel desperate, especially in some regions or situations, or have political or other problems. So it is understandable that everyone has their own situation that they are trying to resolve.

Islamically, she is under no obligation to share her wealth with you or your existing family. Women often have good intuition, and unless she feels there is genuine affection and commitment, she might not be forthcoming with her money.

Also keep in mind that second wife situations can be messy. Sometimes a person may think they are marrying someone just for practical reasons and then end up falling in love. Or, one of the women may initially think she is ok with it but not be able to tolerate it. There can also be complications with how children handle it. This is just advice and not related to your main question.

You could also consider what is narrated from the Prophet (S): "He who marries a woman solely for her beauty will not find anything he likes in her, he who marries her for her wealth will be deprived of it as soon as he marries her, so look to marry women of faith."

104601

Divorce . Qur'anic Verse . Qur'an . Polygamy

Does the verse 66:5 in the Quran apply to specific wives and, if so, which ones? Why did the Prophet (SAWA) not divorce them for better wives?

The two wives who were condemned in the verses 3, 4 and 5 in Sura 66 are Hafsa daughter of Omar and 'ayisha daughter of aabu Bakr. This fact is mentioned in Tasfeer al-Tabari and Tafseer al-Qurtubi, and all other Tafseer books.

Why did the Prophet not divorce them? Allah (SWT) wanted to make them a test for verifying the faith and obedience of Muslims. They became the leaders of the enemies of imam Ali (AS) especially in the battle of Camel. Real believers followed Imam Ali (AS) while many Muslims went astray by joining the army of A'yisha to fight against Imam Ali (AS).

Distinguishing good Muslims from others needed a leadership for the good Muslims which is the leadership of Imam Ali, and a leadership for others which was A'yusha, Hafsa and their group.

Wassalam.

100434

Depression . Marriage . Polygamy . Shariah . Jealousy

I understand that Islam allows a man to marry multiple wives within the rules of Sharia. However, what is the wisdom in such marriages as it relates to the first wife who often undergoes jealousy and depression?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 1 year ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. In our scriptural sources women are not encouraged to have these feelings as they are considered a blameworthy type of ghirah (when you want something only for yourself). They are feelings that are not validated. Similar to the feelings of jealousy and depression when someone doesn't want anyone to do better than them, it is not upon people to not do better than that person, but upon the person to control and work on themselves. As to the wisdom of allowing polygyny there is much wisdom, such that the feelings of the first wife in some cases is not enough of a reason to make it impermissible. Rather, the first wife has to control these tendencies and get used to the idea in the knowledge that this is something that God has allowed. At times, if polygyny is done with wisdom it can improve the situation of the first wife and the relationship between her and her husband.

These feelings are also enhanced by expectations and cultures, which are again not factors that influence permissibility as it is upon Muslims and Muslim society to create expectations and cultures in line with what is permissible and impermissible.

May you always be successful

76506

Qur'an . Qur'anic Verse . Polygamy . Spiritual Wayfaring

Could you please explain Quranic verse 33.33 as some people say that it is the wives of the Prophet (s) who are the ones being purified?

The verse 33:33 was revealed informing about the Infallible progeny of the Prophet (SAWA). Hadith al-Kisaa' stated that the Prophet (SAWA ) kept the kisa (cloak) on Ali (as), Fatima (as), Hassan (as) and Hussain (as) and said: O Allah, theses are my Ahlul Bayt, so keep filth away from them and purify them real purification.. None of the wives of the Prophet was allowed to join them. This authentic Hadeeth is narrated in Sunni books like:

Saheeh Muslim 4450

Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 2903 and 16374 and 25300 and 25339 and 25383 and 25521 and more.

Tirmithi 3129 and 3130 and 3719 and 3809.

Nasa'ee in Sunan Al-Kubra v.5 p.107 and v.5 p.112

al-Bayhaqi in Al-Sunan al-Kubba v.2, p.149 and v.2 p. 142

It was also narrated in Shia books by:

· Sheikh al-Tusi in his book al-Amaali

· Tafsir al-'Ayyashi

· Tafsir Furat al-Kufi

· Tafsir al-Qummi by Ali ibn Ibrahim

· The book of Sulaym ibn Qays

· Kitab al-Khisal by Sheikh al-Saduq

Wassalam.

92642

Women . Qur'an . Man . Polygamy

Why does it seem like the Quran is talking to men and not women such as when it says 'your wives' and 'your women'? Why doesn't the Quran address women directly?

There are a few reasons, including:

* Modesty (regarding explicit subjects, the Qur'an tends to be more modest and address men specifically as well as use euphemisms, even if both men and women are intended)
* Generality (zawj/azwaj can be understood in some cases to mean "spouses" in general and not specifically "wives" as it is often translated)
* In some cases, it is specifically addressing men and speaking about women (for instance, the verse about zihar when it talks about men divorcing their wives via zihar)

So it really depends on the verse. A good resource to look at for varying interpretations of verses is _The Study Quran_ edited by S. H. Nasr.

Hope that helps!

87802

Polygamy . Marriage

How many wives did Imam Hasan (as) have? Did he marry multiple times as is mentioned in some books?

Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 2 years ago

Bismihi ta'ala

This is indeed an important topic, and can be approached from different angles. One necessary point to mention is the difference of methodology of scrutinising narrations between the Usuli Shia scholars and the Akhbari Shia scholars. The would determine the form of how this question is answered. Of course, if we discuss this here it would become a very long reply, so I will keep the answer brief.

The narrations that point to Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (a.s.) being a mizwāj or a mitlāq, which means someone who excessively marries (zawāj) and excessively gets divorced (talāq) is completely refuted and rejected by all our Usuli scholars, and for Akhbari scholars, they interpret it in a certain way, or withhold their opinion.

Indeed, the presnce of these fabircated narrations is was just another scheme played out by the evil Abbasid propaganda against Ahlul Bayt (a.s.).

Some of the number of ex-wives that have been mentioned are way beyond any rational acceptance, like 300, or even more.

Numerous Shia historians have discussed this, and refuted it all. Yes, there are mentioning of the Imam (a.s.) having up to 20 wives (taking the maximum number mentioned), but not all at once. This was something very common and normal at that time. We can also not verify exactly if this was the case, and whether some of the wives had more than one name, which meant that she was counted as being more than one, but in reality it was one person.

Please read this interesting article on this topic:

http://ijtihadnet.com/did-imam-hassan-get-married-and-divorce-multiple-t...

With prayers for your success.

79096

Hadith . Usul al-Kafi . Polygamy . Divorce

I have heard that there is a narration in al-Kafi regarding Imam Hasan (as) having many wives and divorces. Is that true, and if so, is the narration authentic?

This narration is not authentic because some of the narrators like (Mohammad Ibn Ziyad Ibn Easa) is unknown, hence the narration is not authentic at all.

Wassalam.

73744

Islam . Polygamy . Man . Wife . Marriage

How does Islam allow polygamy when it will be difficult for a man to convince his first wife to allow him to marry a second?

Abbas Di Palma, Shaykh Abbas Di Palma holds a BA and an MA degree in Islamic Studies, and certifications from the Language Institute of Damascus University. He has also studied traditional Islamic sciences in... Answered 2 years ago

as salam alaikum

it is not difficult for all men to convince their wives to have another wife and it is not difficult for all wives to accept an husband with more than one wife. Also, it is not necessary for all men to have more than one wife and in many cases it may be detrimental for them. People differs and sometimes there are situations that call for specific choices. For example the Qur'an says: "And if you fear that you will not be able to to justice to the orphan girls, then marry of women as may be agreeable to you two or three or four, but if you fear that you will not be able to deal equitably then one" (4:3).

With prayers for your success.