Chief of the Prophets — Page 115
Chapter Seven 115 some other situation occurs so that the woman deserves our sympathy but is inept and the man also requires sympathy and cannot bear celibacy. In that situation it would be unfair to the faculties of the man to deny him a second marriage. In reality, due to the consideration of these matters, the Sharī’ah of God left this path open. It has also left the path open for the woman at the time when she has no recourse, for if a man suffers a similar fate, she can go to the authorities to receive separation from her husband, which is equivalent to a divorce. 1 He further says: From a practical standpoint, all wives should be treated with equity. For instance, there should be equity in clothing, expenses, food, social contact, and even the conjugal relationship… We describe without any concession whatever we have learned from God, the Exalted. The intention behind the permission of the Qur’ān for more wives is that by establishing yourself on righteousness, and achieving other goals like the procuring of righteous children, and taking care of kin and relatives and fulfilling their rights, you could gain reward. And it is for the achievement of these goals that man has been given the right to marry one, two, three, or up to four women. But if you are unable to carry on with justice among them, then it would be a sin, and you would be entitled to punishment instead of reward, for the revulsion of one sin inclined you to another sin. Breaking someone’s heart is a significant sin, and the relationship of girls is especially a very delicate matter. When parents separate the girls from themselves, and hand them over to 1 Kashtī-i-Nūḥ.