Exegesis of the Verses on Plural Marriage and Justice
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He asks, may Allah preserve you, whether there is a contradiction in the verses regarding plural marriage?
The Shaykh:
He is inquiring.
The questioner:
That is, he says that, for example,[An-Nisa 4:3].
The Shaykh:
This must be understood; the questioner must know what justice is required here. The required justice is the justice that is within one's capacity, the justice that is within one's capacity, and it consists of four things: first, financial maintenance for the wife; second, clothing for the wife; third, housing for the wife.
Fourth, spending the night with her. If these four are provided, then these are the wife's rights over her husband, and anything beyond them is a matter of voluntary generosity. As for the saying of Allah the Exalted,[An-Nisa 4:129], and even if you strive [to be just], the intended meaning is justice in love. A person cannot equalize his wives in love, because love is in the hand of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and hearts are in the hand of Allah. Therefore, he is not required to love each one exactly like the other, but he must not be unjust to the one he loves more, nor favor her over the others in her rights. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
He asks, may Allah preserve you, whether there is a contradiction in the verses regarding plural marriage?
The Shaykh:
He is inquiring.
The questioner:
That is, he says that, for example,
two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one
مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةًThe Shaykh:
This must be understood; the questioner must know what justice is required here. The required justice is the justice that is within one's capacity, the justice that is within one's capacity, and it consists of four things: first, financial maintenance for the wife; second, clothing for the wife; third, housing for the wife.
Fourth, spending the night with her. If these four are provided, then these are the wife's rights over her husband, and anything beyond them is a matter of voluntary generosity. As for the saying of Allah the Exalted,
And you will never be able to be equal [in feeling] between wives
وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَن تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِThe presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/261 — archive.org (2:59)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.