The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 259
VI - Rukhsatānah of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra and an Exposition of Her Age at the Time, the Issue of Polygamy and Two Fabricated Incidents 259 this system, through the individual and physical sacrifice of both husband and wife, a pathway in the interest of morality, religion, family, nation and country has been paved. In summary, the institution of polygamy in Islām is a practice to be employed in exceptional circumstances, which has been instituted whilst taking into account the specific needs of people. This is a sacrifice which both husband and wife are compelled to make in special circumstances for the sake of their morality, religion, family, nation and country. Moreover, Islām expects that when such circumstances arise as are necessary for the practice of polygamy, all people shall sacrifice their desires and physical comforts for a greater good, without hesitation. Furthermore, that when the occasion calls for it, they shall demonstrate that their lives are not only limited to their own persons, or their own homes; rather, that they are members of the vast humanity of the world, for the sake of which one should not hold back from sacrificing his individual interest. Then, it should also be remembered that even when the legitimate need for polygamy arises, Islām has not made the practice of polygamy an obligation. Rather, as mentioned above, it has tied the practice to the condition that only if a person is able to maintain justice should he practice polygamy; otherwise, he should in all cases, suffice with one wife alone. In this respect, justice does not merely infer equality amongst various wives, rather, implies the fulfillment of all those rights which fall upon an individual in the case of polygamy. Hence, there are two conditions for polygamy. Firstly, for any cause to arise from among the legitimate causes stipulated by Islām for the practice. Secondly, for an individual to be able to administer justice. Furthermore, in the fulfillment of these two conditions, with the exception of a person’s heart-felt love (which a person has no control over), he must treat his wives with absolute equality in terms of his time, attention, wealth and apparent treatment. 1 If one contemplates, this very limitation is in itself a grand sacrifice, which a husband is compelled to offer, especially when due to a difference in the individual characteristics and aptitude of his wives, a person loves one more than the other. Yet despite this, he is compelled to distribute all of his things equally amongst his wives, as if they were measured on a scale. This sacrifice is not only one of the husband, rather his wives equally share in this sacrifice as well. In these circumstances, every sensible individual can understand that not only 1 Mishkātul-Maṣābīḥ, Volume 1, Part 2, p. 593, Kitābun-Nikāḥ, Bābul-Qasam, Al-Fathluth-Thānī, Ḥadīth No. 3235-3236, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2003)