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Is it obligatory to stay overnight with the second wife for the entire duration of her month-long visit, after her absence of eleven months, or does justice require alternating overnight stays between her and the first wife?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah Almighty has made it obligatory to be just between wives, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, warned against injustice in this regard. Justice between wives is obligatory, even if they are in different countries. If a man has two wives in two countries, he must be just between them, either by going to the absent wife during her days, or by bringing her to him and gathering them in one country. If she refuses to come when possible, her right is forfeited. If he wishes to divide his time between them in their respective countries, and it is not possible to divide it night by night, then he should make the duration according to what is feasible.

If the wife travels for her own needs, or refuses to come to the husband's country when he requests her, her right to division [of time] is forfeited. However, if she travels for the husband's need, or if he prevents her from coming to him, then her right to division is not forfeited, and she has the right to demand that the husband make up the days she missed.

It is recommended to appease the first wife by having her stay with the wife who arrived from travel for longer than her, according to what would please her.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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