Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

For a peron who is married to a young girl who has nothing wrong with her, is it permitted for him to marry again if he wishes to, for no reason at all other than he was in love with this other girl before his marriage? what are the conditions that he should fulfill in order to get involved in a second marriage?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Conditions for a second marriage

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The one and only restriction that Islam puts on a person who wants to practice polygamy is ‘justice’! Justice and equality in the time he spends with each of them, on the amount he spends on each of them, on the gifts he gives to each of them, etc.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse3: If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them) then (marry) only one.

Other than justice, Allah has put no other restrictions like the first wife not being able to bear a child, or the man has to take the permission of the first wife, etc.

There can be one of many reasons a person may choose to taken a second wife; but whatever the reason, the condition that Allah Subhanah has laid on him is that he should deal with justice and equality between his wives.

Unfortunately, some people, who do not fear Allah and His Accounting, have misused this liberty when they marry a second wife, giving her all the attention; and discard the first wife and pay no attention to her! The Messenger of Allah (saws) warned that such people will be brought forward on the Day of Judgement in such a state that one of their sides will be hanging!

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2128 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘When a man has two wives and he is inclined to one of them, he will come on the Day of Resurrection with a side hanging down.’

Islam has recognized that man is created polygamous by nature, and has thus allowed the man a legal and honorable way to practice polygamy; and has commanded the believers to honor and treat each of his wives equally and with justice.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan