Why does the Quran allow men to have four wives?
There are some situations in which it is advantageous to society to have men marry multiple wives, and for this reason polygyny is practiced by many religions and cultures. Polygyny is permitted in the Bible too, and was widely practiced by Christians and Jews in the time of Muhammad (pbuh). Here we will see that the Qur’an permits only a restricted and limited form of that practice. Only 2% of Muslim marriages are of this nature. Notice that the Qur’an permits but does not command a man to have four wives. Furthermore, the Qur’an stipulates that a man is responsible for the maintenance of his wife or wives. If a man has more than one wife, he has to provide separate living accommodation for each of his wives. Multiple marriages are a heavy responsibility on the male. It is not a pleasure trip as some people may assume. Some even imagine all kinds of sexual exploits involving a man and his wives altogether. However, such activity is not permissible in Islam. A man must divide his time
