I want to marry 4 wives

We are often faced with this question time and time again, ” I would like to marry more than 1 wife or can I marry more than 1 wife and should I tell my wife I want to marry a second wife”.

The verse in the Quran is very clear Surah Nisa Verse Number 3

If you fear that you might not treat the orphans justly, then marry the women that seem good to you: two, or three, or four. If you fear that you will not be able to treat them justly, then marry (only) one, or marry from among those whom your right hands possess. This will make it more likely that you will avoid injustice.

In any society where injustice is apparent and can be exhibited with ease, Allah SWT removes the injustice by giving you a command, the verse is quite self explanatory and explains a scenario of Orphaned Women that were married to Men because they had been orphaned so the Men took on the responsibility to look after them,  but in cases where they were not happy in that marriage, Allah SWT allowed them to marry more than one wife, but the key is THEY MUST BE JUST, in fact Allah SWT orders right after it that if you cannot be just then BE CONTENT WITH THE ONE.

Men often want to get married again and have multiple wives but they commit injustice to the 1st wife and to their children mostly for lust, it is not to obey the creator nor is it because they are marrying an orphan, in most cases it is simply just lust.

In fact we emphasise to men and women if they are not happy in the marriage that they are in then exhaust all avenues to try and make it work if not then call it a day and marry someone else, it is unfair to have multiple wives and you cannot be just to all parties.

Justice is also to ask your 1st spouse if she would have any concerns, justice is also to ask your spouse what her expectations would be after you married again, justice would also be to attain the opinion of your children and your loved ones before you start looking at proposals.

Sadly in most cases, the families only find out after the event and no consultations where ever deployed. Hence why conclude that it is mostly due to lust that a second 3rd and 4th marriage happens and not to seek out justice and keep close to the Deen of Allah SWT.

Perhaps it high time we started to read the whole verse and not just the middle portion to understand the context behind Allah’s order and advice in this chapter.

May Allah SWT bless us with peace and tranquillity in our lives and love for the Deen of Allah SWT

Ameen Ya Rabbe Kareem