Muslims: Is it Mandatory for a husband to tell his first wife if he chooses to marry another woman?

Walaikumus salam!

There are five catagories of do's & dont's in Islam. (1) Compulsory, (2) encouraged (3) permissible (4) discouraged (5) prohibited.

Marrying more than one woman comes under (3) i.e. permissible. Since it is permissible by Islamic law to marry more than one woman, the man is not obligated to take the permission of his wife.

The other thing which is to be noted is that any permissible thing in wordly affairs (trade, marriage, etc) can be made conditional prior to entering into the contract.

For example: If the woman mentions in her marriage contract that her husband should take her permission before marrying another woman, then the man is obligated to take permission.

If it is not mentioned in the contract then there is no need for the man to get her permission.

And Allah knows the Best.

Just how any other woman would feel.... just like you would probably feel the same way as any other man whether he is muslim or not if his wife had gotten married again. Just because we're muslims it does not mean that we would show optimism in everything.. surely you'd be hurt and it will affect their relationship, but this would certainly depend on the circumstances and why he wants to get married again, for example if the wife is unable to conceive.

Islamically he does not. Of course it would be hard to hide and stupid on the man's part. Either way he is responsible in front of Allah and I do not think Allah would want him to hide it. Then if he does hide it ,he is not allowed to lie about it later because lying is haram.

Also the second wife Islamically speaking MUST be told of the first wife, mainly because she has a right to know all before choosing a husband. The first wife though married him knowing that he had her and would be allowed to marry 3 more.

Logically it would be stupid as the man is islamically NOT allowed to lie to his first wife,so if she suspects and asks him he must tell her the truth.

Quote

The first wife’s consent is not a prerequisite for a man to take another wife. The Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked about this and replied as follows:

It is not obligatory for the husband, if he wants to take a second wife, to have the consent of his first wife, but it is good manners and kindness to deal with her in such a manner that will minimize the hurt feelings such thing might produce. So it’s incumbent on the husband to be kind to his wife, discuss the matter with her in a gentle and pleasant manner, and this should be coupled with spending whatever money may be necessary in order to gain her acceptance of the situation.”

End Quote

For complete fatwa, see :: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagen...

wassalaamu alaykum

In the religion it is not mandatory but it is mandatory to obey ur state laws.

If your state law does not permit 2nd marriage without permission of the 1st wife or else permission from any court you have to abide by.

However religion has made compulsory in case of more than one marriage that you must treat all wives with equal respect, honour and love.

It is the law in some Islamic Countries like Iran or Indonesia.

LET SAY you are all right and the husband does not need to tell the first wife......

does that then mean that he does not tell the second wife that he has a first wife for then they would both be equal in the lack of knowledge????

so they both think they are the only wife..... hmmmm

brother, sisters... it is not okay that a man marry more then one woman, just because he can..

that is not the reason allah allowed this thing.. it comes with great responsability..

you cant go saying its okay for a man to have 4 wifes, because he feels like it, then get mad at the shia, because they allow mutah..

its both equally being used for the wrong reason..

I do not quite remember where and Allah (swt) forgive me if I am wrong but yes I think the husband needs to seek permission from the wife before he marries again.

Wa alaikum salam my dear zee zee. In line with the qur'an and hadith,there is no requirement for a husband to tell or to ask permission from,his first wife if he chooses to marry another woman. I agree

with your discussion that it is not mandatory that he tells his first wife before he gets married to the 2nd one for avoiding hurt feelings of his first wife.But we muslims in Indonesia have a marriage law which requires the husband to ask for written permission from his first wife if he wants to marry another woman with strong reason such as his first wife has long illness or she is infertile.