Fiqh of polygyny: justice, rotation of nights and each wife's rights

1The condition of justice: the Qur'anic basis

The permissibility of polygyny comes with a firm condition. Allah says: "…then marry those that please you of women: two, three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then (marry) only one…" (Surah an-Nisa' 4:3). The same verse ends with the reminder that one wife is "nearer to preventing injustice".

In another verse Allah says: "And you will never be able to be just between your wives, however much you desire it; so do not incline wholly (to the one you love) and leave the other as if suspended…" (Surah an-Nisa' 4:129).

Scholars reconcile these two verses as follows:

• The obligatory justice (4:3) is outward justice that lies within human ability: the rotation of nights, maintenance, housing and treatment.
• The justice declared beyond one's ability (4:129) is equality of love and the inclination of the heart — this is not demanded, but the husband is forbidden to let those feelings affect the outward rights of the other wives.
• A well-founded fear of being unable to be just makes polygyny prohibited for that person; many scholars state that it becomes forbidden (haram) for him.

2Al-qasm: the rotation of nights

Al-qasm (division of turns) is the husband's obligation to divide his nights equally among his wives. This is the core of justice in polygyny.

• The basis of the rotation is the night for most people, with the day following the night. For a husband who works at night (for example a security guard or night-shift worker), the basis of his rotation is the day (Shafi'i school).
• Length of a turn: at least one night for each wife. Shafi'i school: it may not exceed three nights per wife without their consent, so that no wife is left too long. The Hanbali school also permits a longer cycle if all the wives agree.
• On a wife's night, the husband may not enter another wife's home except in an emergency (for example, that wife is gravely ill). During the day, he may call in for a need such as delivering maintenance or asking after her, without intercourse and without lingering.
• A wife who is ill, menstruating, in nifas or in ihram is still entitled to her turn, because the purpose of the rotation is companionship and intimacy (uns), not intercourse alone.
• The right to a turn lapses for a wife who is in nushuz (marital defiance), or who travels for her own needs without her husband's permission (Shafi'i school).
• Equality in intercourse is not required by the majority of scholars, as it relates to desire that cannot be controlled, but the husband is encouraged to equalise it as far as he can.

3Opening nights for a new wife: 7 or 3

Anas bin Malik r.a. said: "It is from the sunnah that when a man marries a virgin while he already has a wife, he stays with her seven nights and then divides the turns; and when he marries a previously married woman, he stays with her three nights and then divides the turns." (Sahih al-Bukhari 5213; Sahih Muslim, Kitab ar-Radha').

In Muslim's narration, when the Prophet ﷺ married Umm Salamah r.a. (a widow), he stayed three nights and offered her a choice: if she wished for seven nights, he would give seven nights to the other wives too (Sahih Muslim, Kitab ar-Radha').

4Travel and drawing lots

Aishah r.a. narrated: "When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intended to travel, he would draw lots among his wives; whoever's lot came out, he would set out with her." In the same narration: he gave each wife her day and night, except Sawdah bint Zam'ah, who gave her day to Aishah (Sahih al-Bukhari 2593).

• Shafi'i and Hanbali schools: if the husband wishes to take only one wife on a journey, he must draw lots. If lots are drawn, the days of travel need not be made up to the wives who stayed behind. If he chooses without drawing lots, he must make them up.
• If the journey is to move home (not a temporary trip), the husband may not take only one wife and leave the others; if he does, he must make up the turns (Shafi'i school).
• Hanafi and Maliki schools: drawing lots is recommended to put the wives' hearts at ease, but the husband may choose the wife best suited to the journey, and there is no making up.
• If all the wives agree without drawing lots, it is permitted.

5Giving up one's turn: the story of Sawdah r.a.

Sawdah bint Zam'ah r.a., when she had grown old, gave her turn to Aishah r.a., and the Prophet ﷺ allotted Aishah two days: her own day and Sawdah's (Sahih al-Bukhari 5212; Sahih Muslim, Kitab ar-Radha'). Scholars connect this event with Surah an-Nisa' 4:128 on reconciliation between husband and wife.

• A wife may give her turn to a particular wife, to all her co-wives, or to the husband to give to whomever he wishes.
• The husband's consent is required, because the rotation is also the husband's right — he cannot be forced to spend the night elsewhere.
• This giving up of a turn may be withdrawn at any time for the future; turns that have already passed are not made up.
• A wife may also give up her turn as part of an agreement to preserve the marriage, provided it is truly with her willing consent and not under pressure.

6Separate housing

Every wife is entitled to her own home (maskan) suited to the husband's means. The jurists of the four schools state that the husband may not compel two wives to live in the same house or share basic facilities without their consent, as it leads to quarrels and undermines privacy.

• A separate home need not be a separate building: one's own unit within a building, with its own door, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, is considered sufficient by many scholars.
• If both wives agree to live together, it is permitted; that consent may be withdrawn.
• The husband may not be intimate with one wife in front of another.
• The recommended practice is for the husband to visit each wife in her home. If he calls his wives to his own place, he must be just: the Shafi'i school does not allow the husband to visit some wives and call others to him, except with their consent or for a reasonable cause.

7Maintenance, gifts and spending

Every wife is entitled to full maintenance — food, clothing, housing and basic needs — just as if she were the only wife. This obligation is not reduced because the husband has more than one wife. The level of maintenance is assessed according to the husband's means (Surah at-Talaq 65:7) and the wife's needs.

• Maintenance of the children of each wife is also obligatory, regardless of who their mother is.
• A wife with more children or with medical needs may need a larger amount — this is not injustice, because what is measured is the fulfilment of rights, not identical figures.
• Failure to provide maintenance is a recognised ground for a wife to apply for judicial dissolution (fasakh) or a maintenance order in the Syariah Court.

Gifts and additional spending (difference of opinion). What about giving beyond obligatory maintenance — gifts, holidays, jewellery, a car? Scholars differ, as in the table below. In practice, even though the majority view does not make it obligatory, giving that is clearly one-sided easily leads to the forbidden inclination; the cautious approach is to equalise the gifts that the other wives can see.

8The inclination of the heart and the Prophet's ﷺ warning

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever has two wives and inclines towards one of them will come on the Day of Resurrection with one side of his body leaning." (Sunan Abu Dawud 2133; graded sahih by al-Albani).

• What is warned against is inclination in conduct — turns, maintenance, treatment — not feelings that cannot be controlled.
• Loving one wife more is not a sin; Aishah r.a. was known as the Prophet's ﷺ most beloved wife, yet he still kept each wife's turn.
• The husband may not tell one wife of another wife's merits in a hurtful way, or compare them.

9Prohibited combinations

Some women may not be combined as wives at the same time, even though each one is lawful to marry separately:

• Two sisters — "and (forbidden to you is) that you combine two sisters (as wives)" (Surah an-Nisa' 4:23).
• A woman with her aunt (paternal or maternal) — "A woman may not be combined with her paternal aunt, nor a woman with her maternal aunt." (Sahih al-Bukhari 5109; Sahih Muslim, Kitab an-Nikah).
• A general rule stated by scholars: it is forbidden to combine two women who, if one of them were deemed a man, could not marry each other because of lineage or breastfeeding.
• This prohibition continues until the first wife dies, or is divorced and her ʿiddah ends (see the difference of opinion below).

10The limit of four wives, the case of Ghailan and a wife in ʿiddah

The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah agree that a man may not have more than four wives at one time. Besides Surah an-Nisa' 4:3, the well-known evidence is the story of Ghailan bin Salamah ath-Thaqafi, who embraced Islam while he had ten wives, and the Prophet ﷺ commanded him: "Choose four of them." (narrated by at-Tirmidhi 1128 and Ibn Majah 1953; graded sahih by al-Albani and others, although some hadith scholars such as al-Bukhari questioned its chain, as quoted by at-Tirmidhi).

• The limit of four is the number at any one time; if a wife dies or is divorced (and her ʿiddah ends), the husband may marry again.
• More than four was particular to the Prophet ﷺ (Surah al-Ahzab 33:50), not for the ummah — see the Prophet's ﷺ household.
• A marriage contract with a fifth wife while still having four wives is void.

A fifth wife while a divorced wife is still in her ʿiddah (difference of opinion). If a man has four wives and divorces one, may he marry another woman before the divorced wife's ʿiddah ends? The same ruling applies if he wishes to marry a sister of the divorced wife.

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