The history of polygyny: before Islam, the Qur'anic reform and modern law

1Polygyny in human societies

Anthropological studies show that most recorded human societies allowed a man to have more than one wife. Henrich, Boyd and Richerson (2012) estimate that about 85% of societies in the anthropological record permitted polygyny. Yet within those societies, most men usually had only one wife because of cost and means.

• Mesopotamia: the Code of Hammurabi (18th century BCE) allowed a husband to take a second wife or concubine in certain circumstances. For example when the wife bore no children (§145), or when the wife fell ill (§148). In the second case, the husband remained obliged to support the first wife.
• China: wealthy men could have one lawful wife and several concubines. The practice was abolished by the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China 1950.
• India: polygamy was permitted in Hindu custom until the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 made monogamy compulsory for Hindus (s.5(i) and s.17).
• Africa: polygyny is still widely practised through custom and Islamic law in many countries. See the Africa page.

2In earlier scriptures

This section refers to the texts as recorded in each religion's scripture, without passing judgement on them:

• The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) mentions several figures who had more than one wife:
  • Abraham with Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 16:3).
  • Jacob with Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:21–30).
  • Elkanah with two wives (1 Samuel 1:2).
  • David (2 Samuel 5:13).
  • Solomon with 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3).
  Its laws also contain rules for a husband with two wives (Deuteronomy 21:15–17) and a prohibition on a king "multiplying wives" (Deuteronomy 17:17).
• Later Judaism: the ban associated with Rabbenu Gershom (around 1000 CE) prohibited polygamy among Ashkenazi Jews. Some Eastern Jewish communities continued it for longer. Modern Israel makes bigamy a criminal offence (Penal Law, section please check).
• The New Testament contains no clear prohibition of polygamy. However, it requires church leaders to be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2, 3:12; Titus 1:6). Western churches later established monogamy, in line with monogamous Roman law.

3Arabia before Islam

In pre-Islamic Arab society there was no limit on the number of wives. Women's rights in marriage were also very weak. Authentic narrations give a picture of the situation:

• Ghailan bin Salamah ath-Thaqafi embraced Islam while he had ten wives. The Prophet ﷺ told him to choose four (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1128; graded sahih by Ahmad Shakir and al-Albani).
• Qais bin al-Harith embraced Islam while he had eight wives, and was ordered to choose four (Sunan Abu Dawud 2241). This hadith was graded sahih by al-Albani, but some researchers grade it da'if. The hadith of Ghailan is sufficient as evidence.
• Aishah r.a. explained that there were four forms of marriage in the time of jahiliyyah. Islam retained only one, namely a proposal to the wali with a mahr (Sahih al-Bukhari 5127).
• Aishah r.a. also explained the occasion of revelation of verse 4:3. Some guardians wished to marry orphan girls in their care for their wealth, without giving a fair mahr (Sahih al-Bukhari 4574).
• Women could also be "inherited" by the relatives of a deceased husband. This practice was forbidden by Surah an-Nisa' 4:19.

4What the Qur'an changed

The Qur'an did not start polygyny. It reorganised an existing practice by setting limits, conditions and rights:

5Practice of the early generations

• The Prophet's household ﷺ: he lived monogamously with Khadijah r.a. for about 25 years. His other marriages took place after Khadijah's death. See The Prophet's household ﷺ.
• The Companions: many Companions practised polygyny, and many had only one wife. Both were accepted, and those who practised polygyny were bound by the duty of justice.
• The episode of Ali and Fatimah r.a.: Ali r.a. wished to marry the daughter of Abu Jahl. The Prophet ﷺ gave a sermon from the pulpit and did not permit it unless Ali divorced Fatimah, because "Fatimah is a part of me" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5230; Sahih Muslim, Kitab Fadha'il as-Sahabah). Scholars differ on how this episode is understood. Some regard it as specific, because it hurt the Prophet ﷺ and because of the union with the daughter of an enemy of Allah. Others see it as evidence that harm to the existing wife is taken into account.
• Conditions in the akad: the Prophet ﷺ said that the conditions most deserving of fulfilment are those by which marriage is made lawful (Sahih al-Bukhari 2721; Sahih Muslim, Kitab an-Nikah). On this basis the Hanbali school recognises a wife's condition that her husband not take another wife. See Conditions & taʿliq.
• Classical fiqh did not require a qadi's permission for polygyny. The conditions of validity are the pillars of marriage and the limit of four. The duty of justice was upheld through the wife's right to complain to the qadi.

6Codification in modern states

From the 20th century, most Muslim states enacted written family laws. The issue of polygyny was usually dealt with in one of the following ways: giving the wife the right to set conditions, requiring notice, requiring court permission, or banning it outright.

7Four models of reform

8The picture today

In countries that publish data, polygyny is a minority practice and mostly declining:

• Malaysia: 1,609 polygynous marriages in 2023 in the Peninsula and Sabah, compared with 3,064 in 2019. These figures were reported by The Straits Times based on The Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM) data.
• Indonesia: 0.4% of husbands aged 15–54 have two or more wives (DHS (Demographic and Health Survey) 2017). Nikah siri is not included in this figure.
• Singapore: polygynous marriages made up 0.18% of Muslim marriages in 2020 (Singapore's report to CEDAW (the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women)).

Further details are on the Statistics page.

Sources & references