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Is a man permitted to marry a second wife if that will lead to the destruction of his life with his first wife and cause terrible problems?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Islam does not legislate anything that harms the individual or society; rather, all its legislations contain good, and defects arise from Muslims themselves. An example of this is polygyny. The husband or the first wife may be the cause of destroying the family through their injustice or their inability to accept the situation. The wife must be patient, seek reward (from Allah), and not destroy her family. The husband must not build his second home on the ruins of the first, and he must plan well and act wisely. He should not marry a second time if there is no pressing need for the second marriage and it will lead to the destruction of his first home, unless he fears falling into haram (unlawful acts). A second marriage is permissible and may become obligatory if one is able to act justly, and it is forbidden if one cannot act justly. The husband must not neglect his first home and should appease his first wife with good treatment and kind words.

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

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