Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question: Can a husband marry a second wife without his first wife’s permission?
Answer: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
The fatwa of major Arab and Indo-Pak scholars is that it is generally wrong and unwise in our times to marry a second wife, without consulting wise and knowledgeable scholars (even though it is in itself permitted), because of the harm and mess that inevitably results:
a) the harm to the first wife;
b) the troubles with the second wife when the first is upset;
c) the harm of not giving both their legal, emotional, and material rights;
d) the harm to family relations;
e) and, also vitally, the harm to one’s children…
Marrying another woman is not just a question of providing for both…
Faraz Rabbani
Wassalam