If a person wants to go for 2nd marriage with the commitment that he will do justice with his both wives according to religion. That person has more sexual desires and not satisfied with one wife, he is afraid that because of this reason he can be involved in some kind of Haram acts and he wants to skip that Haram act and want to fulfill his desire in Halal way. As we know that Islam is a Deen of Nature and sexual desire is the part of nature. Is he allowed to take such step in these conditions? Is there any example in history which proves that a man can get 2nd marriage because of this reason?
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
In principle, it is permissible for a Muslim male to marry up to four wives according to Shari’ah on condition that equality can be maintained amongst all wives and that their rights be duly fulfilled. If one does not have the capability to fulfill those obligations without causing the least infringement of their rights, then he should keep one wife. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has emphasized on maintaining full justice and equity between wives and has given warnings to those who do otherwise. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said in a Hadith:
“Anyone who has two wives and he cannot fulfill their rights equally and justly, shall be raised on the Day of Judgment in a condition that one of his shoulders will be drooping down.” (Tirmidhi, Mishkaat)
Another important act the husband should do when considering a second wife is to discuss the issue with his first wife. Although it is not his obligation to inform the first wife, one should discuss the matter beforehand and not keep a second marriage secretive from the first wife, as the second marriage is likely to be exposed to her at some point in time. This may cause the first wife to be upset. It is extremely important for a husband and wife to have full trust in each other.
Therefore, anyone who thinks of having more than one wife should first think about all of those factors and he should also look into himself and figure out realistically whether or not he has the ability to treat them equally and justly.
عن أبى هريرة عن النبى -صلى الله عليه وسلم- قال « إذا كان عند الرجل امرأتان فلم يعدل بينهما جاء يوم القيامة وشقه ساقط ».
(Sharhul-Teebee ‘ala Mishkat al-Masaabih, 6/304, Idaratul-Quran wal-Uloom)
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Ml. Asif Umar,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah