The Nature and Effects of Stipulating Justice in Polygamy (Verse 3 of Surah al-Nisāʼ)

Abstract

According to verse 3 of Surah al-Nisāʼ, a man can have more than one wife, provided that he can maintain justice among his wives. Some Shi'a and Sunni commentators and jurists consider the aforementioned condition to be advisory. In their view, stipulating justice for polygamy highlights the consequences of polygamy and the problems arising from it. According to this view, a man who, despite fearing injustice, proceeds to take another wife has not committed a sin, and his marriage is valid. In contrast to the aforementioned view, some commentators and jurists consider the apparent meaning of the verse to express the suspension of the legal permissibility of polygamy on the condition of justice, and consider it to be mandatory. The result of this theory is the religious prohibition of remarriage and punishment in the hereafter. Some have also considered the invalidity of the second marriage as probable. The current article evaluates the arguments of the aforementioned theories using a descriptive and analytical method and concludes that considering the condition of justice as advisory is contrary to the apparent meaning of the verse, contrary to the principle of mandatories, and the meaning of some narrations.