This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Eighteenth Doubt: Multiplicity of Wives
Parvez Sahib said: The Quran permits only one wife under normal circumstances. If there is no possibility of maintaining the wife, then a man can marry another after divorce, not while she is present. The argument:
وَإِنْ أَرَدتُّمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَّكَانَ زَوْجٍ وَآتَيْتُمْ إِحْدَاهُنَّ قِنطَارًا
"And if you intend to replace one wife with another and you have given one of them a great amount of wealth."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:20)
Parvezi translation: "If you want to marry another wife in place of one wife, then pay the full dowry to the first wife and then bring another wife in her place."
It is absolutely clear from this that one wife can be replaced by another, not alongside her.
Reference: Letters to Tahira, pp: 313-318, and Quranic Decisions, p: 147
Second Argument
Allah Almighty said:
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا فِي الْيَتَامَىٰ فَانكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ
"And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hand possesses."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:3)
Regarding the first part of this verse, it is written:
The clear meaning is that if an emergency situation arises, for example after a war when a large number of young men have perished, and in such a situation orphans and young women remain in society without husbands, then what should be done? To address this emergency, permission is given to temporarily allow flexibility in the law of one wife, i.e., polygamy is permitted.
Reference: Letters to Tahira, p. 315
From these writings, the conclusion is drawn that in the absence of orphans, marrying more than one woman is not permitted.
Parvez Sahib's opinion to rely on marrying only one wife from the first verse is based entirely on ignorance because the pronoun in the word إحداهن is clearly feminine plural, indicating that the person has more than one wife but wants to replace one of them. If the verse referred to only one wife, the pronoun would be feminine singular and the word would be وآتيتم إياها and you had given that one wife a dowry. From this verse, the permissibility of polygamy is evident, not prohibition.
◈ Note: The restriction on substitution (changing wives) in this verse is increased because when a person wants to divorce one of his wives to marry another and wants to take back the dowry given to the first wife for the second marriage, Allah Almighty has said that this is not permissible. The strong prohibition on returning the dowry is the reason the word substitution is used, not because bringing a second wife in the presence of the first wife is not allowed. Parvez Sahib's interpretation is a complete distortion of meaning.
The reasoning from the second verse is also incorrect because
➊ The mentioned verse forbids unlawfully acquiring the property of orphans in the first verse so that they are protected from oppression. Now, in this verse, it forbids oppression of orphan girls through marriage. It says that if you fear you will oppress orphan girls by marrying them, then marry other women instead, because those women have parents and guardians, so you fear oppressing them, whereas orphan girls are helpless and you have no fear from their guardians. Therefore, as a precaution, avoid marrying them. This interpretation is narrated by Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and the evidence is that if marrying orphan girls was meant here, then instead of النساء, it should have been اليتامىٰ or its pronoun منهن, but the explicitness of النساء shows that non-orphan girls are meant.
➋ Parvez Sahib has made the abundance of orphans a condition for multiple wives and called it an emergency, but these are his self-imposed conditions. The verse mentions the abundance of orphans, not an emergency.
➌ We say that the Quran has not imposed the condition of abundance of orphans but the condition of fear of injustice towards orphans with وإن خفتم, and this condition is not necessarily obligatory because not every condition is obligatory, for example, the divine command is:
وَلَا تُكْرِهُوا فَتَيَاتِكُمْ عَلَى الْبِغَاءِ إِنْ أَرَدْنَ تَحَصُّنًا
"And do not compel your slave girls to prostitution if they desire chastity."
Reference: (24-An-Nur:33)
In this verse, "if they desire chastity" is unanimously not an obligatory condition because even if the slave girls do not intend chastity, they cannot be forced into fornication.
Allah Almighty said:
وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ إِنْ أَرَادُوا إِصْلَاحًا
"And if they desire reconciliation, then their husbands have more right to take them back in marriage."
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:228)
In this verse, the condition of reconciliation is not obligatory because the husband always has the right to return, whether he intends reconciliation or not.
Therefore, the meaning of this verse is that if you fear that you will not be just to orphan girls, then marry other women who please you. If a person does not fear injustice towards orphan girls, then he is permitted to marry both orphan and non-orphan women by preference.
Quranic Evidence Supporting Polygamy
The Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) having multiple wives is established by most of the verses of the Holy Quran. Allah Almighty said:
النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ
"The Prophet has a greater claim on the believers than themselves, and his wives are their mothers."
Reference: (33-Al-Ahzab:6)
He also said:
وَمَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَن تُؤْذُوا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَن تَنكِحُوا أَزْوَاجَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا
"And it is not lawful for you to harm the Messenger of Allah, nor is it lawful for you to marry his purified wives after him."
Reference: (33-Al-Ahzab:53)
He also said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ إِن كُنتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا
"O Prophet! Say to your purified wives, if you desire the life of this world and its adornments."
Reference: (33-Al-Ahzab:28)
He also said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَحْلَلْنَا لَكَ أَزْوَاجَكَ اللَّاتِي آتَيْتَ أُجُورَهُنَّ
"O Prophet! We have made lawful for you the wives to whom you have given their dowries."
Reference: (33-Al-Ahzab:50)
He also said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ
"O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves."
Reference: (33-Al-Ahzab:59)
Allah Almighty said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ ۖ تَبْتَغِي مَرْضَاتَ أَزْوَاجِكَ
"O Prophet! Why do you declare what Allah has made lawful for you as forbidden? You seek to please your wives."
Reference: (66-At-Tahrim:1)
He also said:
عَسَىٰ رَبُّهُ إِن طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَن يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِّنكُنَّ
"If he (the Prophet) divorces you, then perhaps his Lord will give him in exchange better wives than you."
Reference: (66-At-Tahrim:5)
From all these verses, it is explicitly established that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had more than one purified wife at the same time. The plural form indicates three or more, and it is not from the hadith that Parvez Sahib can deny this by calling it history or conjecture; these are verses from the Holy Quran.
Now we present those verses which provide evidence for multiple wives for the Ummah.
وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَاجُكُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُنَّ وَلَدٌ
"And whatever your wives leave as inheritance, you shall have half of it, provided they have no child."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:12)
He also said:
وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا
"And those of you who die and leave wives behind."
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:234)
He also said:
إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ
"Except from your wives or those your right hands possess."
Reference: (23-Al-Mu’minun:6)
He also said:
فَانكِحُوهُنَّ بِإِذْنِ أَهْلِهِنَّ
"So marry them with the permission of their owners."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:25)
He also said:
إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ
"When you marry believing women and then divorce them."
Reference: (33-Al-Ahzab:49)
He also said:
وَمَن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنكُمْ طَوْلًا أَن يَنكِحَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ فَمِن مَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُم
"And whoever among you cannot afford to marry free believing women, then marry from those whom your right hands possess of believing slave girls."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:25)
Although the above verses use plural against plural, due to their generality, they provide evidence for multiple wives. And the generality of this plurality is limited to four according to verse 3 of Surah An-Nisa.
◈ Commentary: Parvez Sahib’s Quranic insight is actually a product of Western imagination, in which marrying more than one wife is considered reprehensible. Islam permits marriage to one to four wives, but the permission for more than one is conditional upon justice. If a person can fulfill the requirements of justice, he can marry more than one, i.e., up to four wives, and this is a permission, not a command. Every permission in the Holy Quran is general and not limited to a specific time or place but applies until the Day of Judgment.
If truly assessed, restricting to one marriage and considering multiple wives as bad leads to immorality, to the extent that people fall into sexual promiscuity, as is very clear and common in Western civilization, whereas Islam teaches chastity, modesty, and protection of lineage and encourages avoidance of all kinds of immorality and obscenity. Multiple wives are the main means and method for this.
