🧭 Serantau & Timur Tengah · #3
Is court permission needed for polygyny in Saudi Arabia?
No. Saudi law does not require court permission and does not require the existing wife's consent to marry again, with a limit of four wives. The Personal Status Law 2022 (Royal Decree M/73, based on Hanbali fiqh) requires every akad, including a second marriage, to be registered like an ordinary akad (Article 8); no special polygyny form has been identified (to be verified). The husband must be just in the rotation and maintenance, but that justice is not examined before marriage; the wife can only claim it by complaining to the court. The wife's main protections are conditions in the akad and judicial dissolution (fasakh) for harm. However, for a Malaysian man, marrying again in Saudi Arabia without the permission of the Syariah Court is still an offence in Malaysia. See Saudi Arabia.
Sumber
Surah an-Nisa' 4:3Saudi Personal Status Law 2022 (Royal Decree M/73), Article 8Act 303, s.123