Is plural marriage a means to paying off a debt?

The questioner : May Allah preserve you, O honorable Shaykh. Is it true that a man who has a debt can pay it off by taking multiple wives?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : That plural marriage.

The Shaykh : That the one who has a debt?

The questioner : Is it true that.

The Shaykh : Do not say "true" or "not true"! Say, if a man is.

The questioner : If a man is in debt.

The Shaykh : If a man has a debt.

The questioner : A debt, yes. Is plural marriage a means to paying off his debt?

The Shaykh : Is plural marriage a means to paying off his debt?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Meaning? Meaning if he marries a second wife, Allah pays off his debt?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And a third wife pays off his debt?!

The questioner : Yes, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : I do not know of this, I do not know of this. But there is no doubt that the one who marries seeks chastity, whether with one wife or more. It has come in the hadith that Allah helps him, meaning in marriage. But as for paying off his debt, I do not know of that. I do not know of any basis for this. Otherwise, whenever debts become tight for a person, he would go and marry a second, third, and fourth wife! And if the debt is not paid, he would divorce the first and take a fifth!

The questioner : He spends on his family.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills. But paying off the debt is a different matter from Allah providing him with what he needs to spend on himself and his family. Yes.

The questioner : Honorable Shaykh, I seek your ruling on the matter of a divorce that occurred between me and my wife.

The Shaykh : Leave it for the 'Asr prayer, if Allah wills, in the mosque.

The questioner : The afternoon time?

The Shaykh : Yes, because this is written, copied, published, and printed.