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He must treat his wives equally in the division of time, though not in sexual intercourse.

His statement, “He must treat his wives equally in the division of time”: the pronoun in “he must” refers to the husband. He is therefore required to treat his wives equally in the division of time, whether they are two, three, or four. The evidence for this is found in the Quran, the sunnah, and rational consideration.

As for the Quran, Allah says: “Live with them in kindness.” [al-Nisāʾ 4:19] It is not kind treatment for him to allot two nights to one wife and only one night to another; the injustice in this is evident. As for the sunnah, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever has two wives and inclines toward one of them will come on the Day of Resurrection with one side of his body leaning.” (1) We seek Allah’s protection. This proves that it is forbidden to incline toward one of them. As for rational consideration, each of them is a wife, and they are equal in their right upon this man; thus, they must be equal in the division of time, just as children must be treated fairly in gifts.

His statement, “among his wives in the division of time”: the apparent meaning of his words is that this applies whether they are free women or slave women, since he made no exception. However, some scholars—the relied-upon position in the school—said that a free woman is entitled to two nights when married alongside a slave woman, while the slave woman is entitled to one night, because she is considered half [the status of a free woman]. This is open to question. The correct view is that fairness in the division of time is obligatory even between a free woman and a slave woman.

His statement, “though not in sexual intercourse”: he is not required to treat them equally in sexual intercourse;