Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Joking about taking a second wife is not from the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and is not gentlemanly. It provokes a woman’s feelings unnecessarily. While marrying a second wife may be permissible in some contexts if done according to the Sunnah, threatening or dangling it in front of the first wife as a joke is inappropriate.
In response to this question, Dr. Yasir Qadhi — the Dean of The Islamic Seminary of America and the resident scholar at the East Plano Islamic Center — states:
So this one of the sisters is saying in every Q&A there is a question about second wives. Do you guys find it funny? Because none of them find it funny. And believe it or not, I saw this question and five questions down, there’s a question about a second wife, literally.
So I’ve said this before in the youth gathering, I’ll say it to the adults’ gathering as well. SubhanAllah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never joked about a second wife.
This is not of the Sunnah to do. So I’m not saying getting married is not Sunnah, I’m saying he never joked about a second wife because a woman has feelings. And it is not a part of being a gentleman and a husband to provoke those feelings for no reason.
If you want to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in this aspect, in another country where it’s permissible to do so, do it in the Sunnah way. But joking and dangling it in front of your first wife and threatening and thinking it’s funny, that’s definitely not Sunnah. And it’s not gentlemanly to do, really it is not.
And so I actually wanted to quote the sister’s expression to you that this is literally coming from one of the sisters in our community, and it’s a valid point that if a legitimate question happens, I understand, but there is a genuine sense of hurt in this regard, and I don’t see this as being a part of what we should be doing. So, a valid point.
Explore more Islamic guidance here:
- Second Wife against Parents’ Will: Disobedient?
- No Longer Sharing Marital Bed: Can I Take a Second Wife?
- Stipulating Not to Take Second Wife in Marriage Contract: Valid?
- Having a Second Wife in Western Countries
Almighty Allah knows best.