because it is well established that women are more numerous than men, while men are constantly exposed to dangers that reduce their ranks—such as the hazards of war and travel. When male numbers decline and female numbers rise, restricting a man to one wife would leave many women without husbands.

It is likewise known that a woman experiences menstruation and post-partum bleeding; were a man barred from marrying another wife, he would spend many periods deprived of both pleasure and procreation.

Moreover, a woman’s capacity for complete, fruitful marital relations usually ends when she reaches menopause, around the age of fifty. A man, by contrast, remains able to enjoy intimacy and father children until advanced old age. If he were limited to a single wife, much benefit would be lost to him and the possibility of further offspring would be cut off.

In addition, in most human societies women already outnumber men. If each man were confined to one wife, many women would be left without a provider, leading to moral corruption, the ruin of numerous women, or their being deprived of life’s enjoyments and adornments.

The subtle wisdoms behind the permissibility of polygyny are therefore many and profound. May Allah thwart those who seek to block this path and abolish these benefits.

From the viewpoint of Islamic law, marriage may take five legal rulings: at times it is obligatory, at times recommended, at times forbidden, and at times disliked: