The correct meaning of the statement of Allah the Exalted: “So marry women of your choice in twos, threes, or fours…”

The questioner : … in the Khalayil Society, they say “in twos, threes, or fours,” meaning two by two. Is this correct?

The Shaykh : No, this is a mistake without a doubt. “In twos, threes, or fours” means two, or three, or four. This is the intended meaning of the noble verse, and this is what has been reported. Do you not hear, O Abu 'Abdullah, this interpretation of the noble verse? The scholars of tafsir (exegesis) have agreed that the intended meaning is two, three, or four women. And clarification of this came in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). We must remember that understanding the Qur'an is not possible except through the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says, addressing His Prophet in the clear text of the Qur'an: , meaning: “And We have revealed to you, O Messenger of Allah, the Reminder, namely the Qur'an, so that you may make clear to the people this Qur'an that was revealed to you.” Among the explanations of the Qur'an by him (peace and blessings be upon him), and indeed among the strongest forms of his clarification of the Qur'an, is his own wording (peace and blessings be upon him). It was reported that a man from among the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) embraced Islam while he had nine wives. This was because the Arabs, as stated clearly in the Qur'an, , were illiterate and not People of the Book like the Jews and the Christians. Therefore, the Jews and the Christians at that time—not today—were distinguished from the Arabs by what Allah had revealed to their prophets, Moses and Jesus, in the Torah and the Gospel. They were on a straighter path and more upright in speech than the Arabs. The Arabs were a group of polytheists with no morals, no etiquette, and no law, except what was legislated for them by the head of the tribe. Each one had a law for which Allah had not sent down any authority. Among these was that they would marry as many women as they wished, and opening the door to marrying as many women as a man wished would lead to neglecting the duty of the family and the duty of raising offspring. Therefore, when that man embraced Islam and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pledge allegiance to Islam, and he had nine wives under his protection, he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): . Many people in this time—this time in which Muslims are being invaded in their own homelands, and even if we suppose they are not being invaded in their homelands by disbelievers with their soldiers and persons, they are being invaded in their homelands by the ideas adopted by disbelievers, from which Islam and sincere Muslims who hold fast to Islam disavow themselves. It is known that disbelievers, to this day, many of them still attack Islam in some of its legislations, claiming that they are illogical, unreasonable, and unjust. Among these is their claim that it is not just at all for a man to marry in twos, threes, or fours. This is a matter these disbelievers reject, and that is part of their clear and manifest misguidance. And why? If these disbelievers lived a pure life and a noble life, knowing no meaning to fornication or zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and yet they still rejected having two wives, or more, perhaps they would have some excuse. But reality bears witness that one of them—I say in other words, I do not say he marries, but he takes in twos, threes, fours, fives, tens, twenty, and so on—and they find no shame in it at all. They spill their blood thus in vain, and there is nothing in this act, which is zina, and in the children of zina who are thrown by the hundreds, if not thousands, into the streets and into the rivers, in the rivers of China, France, and elsewhere. All of this is nothing to them. But that a Muslim marries two, three, or four and fulfills their rights of chastity and provides for them—this is something these people, these disbelievers who resent the wise legislations of Islam, find abhorrent. There are many, many things we are not in a position to mention now. It is sufficient for us now to remind the Muslims present, and let the one present convey to the one absent that Islam did not permit a Muslim to marry more than four. And when it permitted marriage with four women, it imposed a fundamental condition: that condition is justice among them, justice among them. Here is a word that must be mentioned: the justice intended here is not what we sometimes hear from many radio stations in Egypt or other countries influenced by foreign Western currents and ideas, that it is not permissible for a Muslim to marry a second woman except out of necessity. This is a fabrication against Islam. It is not that he married, as you heard in the Qur'an, in twos, threes, or fours without necessity. And in this is profound wisdom, for you know that men are not equal. … Men differ, and no blame, in terms of sexual nature. Among them is the man of cold nature, and among them is the man of strong desire, the one with many women, the one with lust. So if he is told, “Only one for you, and no more,” he will be forced to do what the disbelievers do, which is to seek a mistress, a concubine with whom he commits adultery, and a companion with whom he associates in sin. And then the infection of zina spreads from the woman with whom he commits zina to his righteous, helpless wife in his own home. Therefore, this legal ruling does not require, , except justice among them. As for necessity, this is a fabrication against Islam, in which some lecturers or broadcasters have fallen, influenced by Western ideas, to reduce the offspring of Muslims. Be aware of this point, and to reduce the offspring of Muslims thereby. For you know that nations today recognize the importance of the number of the ummah (community). Therefore, you see the Jews in Palestine trying, almost every day, to increase their numbers and to overcome the number of Palestinians there by their numerical superiority, because they look far ahead, and very far ahead. But Islam, which is a revelation from the Wise, the All-Knowing, looked even further than that, and there is no comparison between this view, for this view is divine. Therefore, it was among the manners of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . Thus, when a Muslim marries in twos, threes, or fours, this is what enables the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to boast of his Muslim ummah on the Day of Resurrection, and enables the Muslim to protect more than one woman. So there is no necessity that is ever required to marry more than one. Rather, the fundamental condition, as Allah the Exalted said in the noble Qur'an, , if you cannot do justice among women, then one…