Why is a man allowed to have more than one wife in Islam?

First, a clarification of terms: 'polygamy' includes both polygyny (a man with multiple wives) and polyandry (a woman with multiple husbands). Islam permits limited polygyny and prohibits polyandry.

Remarkably, the Qur'an is the only major religious scripture that contains the phrase 'marry only one.' The Hindu Vedas, the Bible, and the Talmud place no numerical restriction on wives. Historical Hindu figures like Krishna are described as having 16,108 wives. The Bible records Solomon having 700 wives. It was the Christian Church — not the Bible — that later imposed the restriction of one wife.

The Qur'an states: 'Marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one.' This sets conditions that effectively discourage polygyny except in specific circumstances.

Polygyny is classified as Mubah (permissible), not Fard (obligatory). The average Muslim has only one wife. However, demographic realities exist: in many countries, women significantly outnumber men. In the United States, there are approximately 4.8 million more women than men. In Russia, the gap is 10 million. In a society where all men marry one woman each, the remaining women have limited options — remaining unmarried or entering relationships without legal protection.

Islam provides a framework where a surplus of women can have dignified marriages with full legal rights, inheritance, and protection, rather than being left without a recognized status in society.

Additional legitimate reasons include situations where a wife is unable to bear children, suffers from severe chronic illness, or becomes permanently incapacitated — polygyny provides an alternative to divorce while maintaining the first wife's rights and dignity.