The Ruling on Having More Than Four Wives at the Same Time
Source: Fatawa Ameenpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
❖ Question
What is the ruling on keeping more than four wives at the same time?
❖ Answer
It is permissible to have a maximum of four wives at the same time. Keeping more than four is haram and impermissible. Having more than four wives was a special characteristic of the Prophet ﷺ.
❀ Allah Almighty has said:
﴿فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ﴾
(An-Nisa: 3)
“Marry women of your choice, two, three, or four.”
❀ Ḥafiz Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله, 774H) said:
أجمع المسلمون قاطبة على أن الزيادة على أربع كان من خصائص رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، ولا عبرة بمخالفة الشيعة فى ذلك.
“All the Muslims are unanimously agreed that having more than four wives at one time was from the special characteristics of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the opposition of the Shia in this regard carries no weight.”
(Tuhfat al-Talib, p. 104)
