The Ruling on Justice Between Wives
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, my father married a second woman and leaned toward her, and he did not treat my mother and this woman with justice. What is the ruling in this matter? May Allah reward you.
Answer:
The ruling is that the justice a husband must show between his wives is the justice that is within his ability, which includes financial maintenance, clothing, housing, and sharing nights with them. As for love in the heart, one cannot be just in that, for Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:129] Love is not something one can be just in, because it is in the hand of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.
As for the matters in which justice is obligatory, namely clothing, financial maintenance, housing, and sharing nights, these are required. It is not permissible for him to stay with the one he loves and be short with the woman in whom he has less desire; rather, he must give her her rights in these matters: financial maintenance, clothing, sharing nights, and housing. He must provide these things for her just as he provides them for the wife he loves more than the others. Yes.
The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, my father married a second woman and leaned toward her, and he did not treat my mother and this woman with justice. What is the ruling in this matter? May Allah reward you.
Answer:
The ruling is that the justice a husband must show between his wives is the justice that is within his ability, which includes financial maintenance, clothing, housing, and sharing nights with them. As for love in the heart, one cannot be just in that, for Allah the Exalted said:
And you will never be able to be equal [in feeling] between wives, even if you should strive [to do so]. So
وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَن تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ فَلَاAs for the matters in which justice is obligatory, namely clothing, financial maintenance, housing, and sharing nights, these are required. It is not permissible for him to stay with the one he loves and be short with the woman in whom he has less desire; rather, he must give her her rights in these matters: financial maintenance, clothing, sharing nights, and housing. He must provide these things for her just as he provides them for the wife he loves more than the others. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 6304- حكم العدل بين الزوجات - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.