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Are there prophetic hadiths that prefer a Muslim to have one wife over having multiple wives, or that show the virtue of having one wife?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is nothing in the Sunnah or books of knowledge that indicates a preference for limiting oneself to one wife. Rather, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Marry and multiply, for I will boast of your numbers before the nations on the Day of Resurrection," which indicates the virtue of polygyny and encourages it for those who are able. The condition for marrying more than one woman is the ability to be just among the wives; otherwise, it is not permissible. This is based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Whoever has two wives and inclines to one more than the other, will come on the Day of Resurrection with one of his sides drooping." Allah Almighty has permitted polygyny in His saying: "Marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four; but if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly [with them], then [marry only] one." If a man fears injustice, he should limit himself to one. However, for those who are able, polygyny is preferable to achieve the multiplication of the Ummah.

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

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