❖ Ruling Summary:
Islam strictly limits the number of women a free man or a slave can have in marriage at one time.
✔ Free man: Maximum four wives
✔ Slave: Maximum two wives
Exceeding this limit is unlawful (ḥarām) by consensus of the scholars and based on explicit prophetic guidance.
❖ Qur’anic Evidence:
﴿مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ﴾
“Two, or three, or four...”
(Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: 3)
✔ The “و” (waaw) here indicates choice, not accumulation.
✔ Supported by analogy in Sūrah Fāṭir, where similar grammatical structure is used.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Nikāḥ, before Ḥadīth 5098🖋 Imām al-Bukhārī explicitly titled a chapter:
"A man may not have more than four wives at one time.”
Ibn Ḥajar (رحمه الله) states:“This ruling is established by consensus (اجماع).”
Fatḥ al-Bārī, 9/139❖ Prophetic Practice:
➊ Qays ibn al-Ḥārith (رضي الله عنه):
“When I accepted Islam, I had eight wives. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Choose four of them.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah: 1588, Abū Dāwūd: 1939, Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1885➋ Ghaylān ibn Salamah (رضي الله عنه):
“He had ten wives. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Keep four and leave the rest.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah: 1989, Musnad Aḥmad: 2/14, Tirmidhī: 1128, Ibn Ḥibbān: 4156➌ Nawfal ibn Muʿāwiyah (رضي الله عنه):
“He had five wives. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Keep four and part with the fifth.”
Weak chain, due to unknown narrator in Imām al-Shāfiʿī’s chain Bayhaqī: 7/184✔ Despite one weak chain, the ruling is affirmed through multiple authentic reports, making the four-wife limit undisputed.
❖ Scholarly Consensus:
Free Man:
– It is ḥarām to marry more than four women at once.
Fatāwā Ibn Taymiyyah: 3/216 al-Mughnī by Ibn Qudāmah: 9/471 al-Baḥr al-Zakhkhār: 3/35 Tafsīr al-Lubāb fī ʿUlūm al-Kitāb: 6/164✔ Ibn Ḥajar confirms that the Prophet’s ﷺ nine marriages were a unique allowance from Allah, exclusive to him.
Fatḥ al-Bārī: 9/115 He lists ten wisdoms behind this Prophetic exception.❖ Ruling for Slaves:
➊ Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه):
“A slave marries up to two women...”
Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 2067, Bayhaqī: 7/425➋ Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah:
“The Companions agreed (Ijmāʿ) that a slave may not marry more than two women.”
Ibn Abī Shaybah: 16044, Bayhaqī: 7/158✔ Quoted and affirmed by Imām al-Shāfiʿī in Maʿrifah, 5/281
➌ Consensus Confirmed By:
✔ Ibn Taymiyyah
✔ Ibn al-Mundhir
✔ Shaykh Saʿdī Abū Ḥabīb
Marātib al-Ijmāʿ, al-Ijmāʿ, Mawsūʿat al-Ijmāʿ✔ Ibn Qudāmah:
“There is consensus that a slave may marry only two women.”
al-Mughnī: 9/472❖ Minor Differences:
◈ Imām Mālik, al-Shawkānī, and others:
— Believe that slaves may marry up to four wives, citing the generality of the Qur’anic verse.
Tafsīr al-Lubāb: 6/124 Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/231 However, these opinions are not in line with the established practice and consensus of the Companions.❖ Conclusion:
✔ A free man may not marry more than four women at a time.
✔ A slave may not marry more than two women at a time.
✔ These limits are firmly grounded in the Qur’an, Sunnah, and consensus of the scholars.
✔ The Prophet’s exception is a divinely granted privilege, not a general rule.
This is the correct and authoritative position in Islamic law.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
