More Than Four Wives at the Same Time Is Not Permitted
Mufti Mamunur Rashid Qaseemi · 25 October 2026 · about 2 min read
Keeping more than four wives at the same time is not permitted. But having eight or ten marriages over a lifetime, or many bondwomen, is not in itself a wrong or something to be blamed for.
إلا على أزواجهم أو ما ملكت أيمانهم، فإنهم غير ملومين — "except with their wives or those their right hands possess, for then they are not to be blamed."
Whether there is one marriage or several, carrying it out improperly is a wrong in both cases and an injustice to one another. Divorcing without a valid reason is a serious wrong.
In Bangladesh there are hundreds of thousands of men who married three or four times to keep one wife. Some lost several wives one after another to death. For some, both a wife's death and divorce happened. After three or four marriages, they now have only one wife.
So for those who keep four wives at the same time, it is natural that divorce may happen with two or three of them for sound reasons. There are many cases of divorce in the lives of the Companions too.
Yes, if someone truly does injustice — with one wife or with several — they are all wrongdoers.
An oppressor is unjust even to one wife. A just man treats several wives justly too. That is why countless men in Bangladesh are unjust even to one wife. Hundreds of thousands of cases of violence against women are pending — though it is no secret that most of them are false accusations.
Likewise, many who marry a second or third time are unjust to their wives and fail to be fully fair. We call them to the right path.
The lives of the Companions contain many examples of marriage and divorce — Abu Bakr (RA): 4 marriages; 'Umar (RA): 8 marriages (3 divorces, 1 death); 'Ali (RA): 9–11 marriages; 'Uthman (RA): 7 marriages; Anas (RA): 23 marriages and 110 children.
So plural marriage is not bad by nature. It cannot be condemned blindly.
It is written in al-Fatawa al-Bazzaziyya: a person who criticises those who keep several wives or many bondwomen is at risk of losing his faith.
The one who does wrong is the one who is bad. Those who treat women unjustly — even while keeping one wife — are the truly bad ones.
References
- Surah Al-Mu'minun 23:6; Surah Al-Ma'arij 70:30 — 'except with their wives… they are not to be blamed'
- Surah An-Nisa 4:3 — Two, three or four
- al-Fatawa al-Bazzaziyya — Quoted by the author
Qur'an and hadith references were checked by the editorial team before publication; for detailed rulings consult a qualified mufti/scholar.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many wives may a man have at the same time?
No more than four at the same time.
Is it wrong to marry several times over a lifetime?
According to the author, no. Eight or ten marriages over a lifetime, after death or divorce for valid reasons, are not blameworthy, and the Companions' lives have many examples. But divorcing without a valid reason is a serious wrong.
Where does the real fault lie?
The author's main point: injustice is what is wrong — with one wife or several. A just man is fair to several wives; an oppressor wrongs even one.
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