✦ Investigating the Narration: Marriage as a Cure for Poverty ✦
❖ Question:
Is it true that a man complained to the Prophet ﷺ about his poverty, and the Prophet advised him to marry multiple times, after which his poverty was removed?
❖ Answer by:
Shaykh Abdul Wakeel Nasir (Hafizahullah)
Research Scholar Abdul Khaliq Saif (Hafizahullah)
❖ Summary of the Commonly Quoted Narration
A widely circulated narration claims:
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ complaining of poverty, so the Prophet ﷺ advised him to get married.
He married once but poverty remained. The Prophet advised a second, then a third, and finally a fourth marriage.
After the fourth marriage, the man supposedly became wealthy.
❖ Authenticity and Research on This Narration
✔ Shaykh Abdul Salam Bhutvi (رحمہ اللہ) stated:
“I searched for this narration in authentic sources but found no reliable chain of narration.”
◈ It is found in Tārīkh Baghdād (vol. 1, p. 65), but its chain is weak.
✔ Weak Narrators in the Chain:
① Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-Madanī
Imam Abu Hātim (رحمہ اللہ) said:
“ليس حديثه بشيء“
“His narration holds no weight.”
(Lisān al-Mīzān, vol. 3, p. 226)
② Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir
Imam Ibn Ḥibbān noted:
“لا يجوز أن يُحتاج به“
“It is impermissible to rely on him for evidence.”
(Lisān al-Mīzān)
✔ Another Related Weak Narration:
“تزوجوا النساء فإنهن يأتينكم بالمال“
“Marry women, for they bring you wealth.”
This was declared weak by Shaykh Albani in:
Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ḍaʿīfah, Hadith No. 3400.
❖ Conclusion:
✔ The story about a man becoming wealthy after four marriages is based on weak narration and cannot be cited as Shar‘i evidence.
✔ It is incorrect to present it as a verified saying of the Prophet ﷺ.
❖ The Correct Islamic Perspective:
Despite the weakness of the above narration, marriage remains a source of virtue, stability, and blessing.
The Qur’an affirms that poverty is not a barrier to marriage, and that Allah provides through His bounty:
“إِن يَكُونُوا فُقَرَاءَ يُغْنِهِمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ“
“If they are poor, Allah will enrich them out of His bounty. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.”
(Surah An-Nūr: 32)
