Allahabad HC quote Quran, says Muslim man can’t marry twice if he can’t care for 1st wife & kids

In a significant judgment, the Allahabad High Court has ruled that if a Muslim man cannot take care of his wife and children, then the Quran does not allow him to marry a second time.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Rajendra Kumar-IV made the observation while refusing to compel a Muslim woman to live with her husband who had married a second time.

In the 19 September judgment, made public in the past week, the high court reportedly stressed on the fundamental rights of citizens, asserting that “it is requisite of the present day that people are made aware that it is obligatory to treat the women with respect and dignity”.

The bench further stated that the religious mandate of Sura 4 Ayat 3 of the Quran is binding on all Muslim men to deal justly with orphans and then they can marry women of their choice two or three or four but if a Muslim man fears that he will not be able to deal justly with them then only one.

The court said: “If a Muslim man is not capable of fostering his wife and children then as per above mandate of Holy Quran, he cannot marry the other woman.” A mandate has been given that in such circumstances a Muslim man has to prevent himself to perform second marriage, if he is not capable of fostering his wife and children, it stated.

As per reports, the couple in this case — Azizurrahman and Hamidunnisha — got married in May 1999 and have four children. Subsequently, Azizurrahman married a second time and also had children with the second wife.

According to LiveLaw, the husband has admittedly neither told the wife either about his intention to contract a second marriage nor explained to the wife that he shall give equal love, affection and treatment to both wives.

The high court opined that a Muslim husband has the legal right to take a second wife even while the first marriage subsists. However, if he then asks the court to compel his first wife to live with him, the court would not allow it if it feels that it would be “unjust and inequitable to compel her to live with him”.

According to LiveLaw, the bench said that if a Muslim man, after taking a second wife against the wishes of the first, also wants the civil court’s assistance to compel the first to live with him, the court would “respect the sanctity of the second marriage, but it will not compel the first wife, against her wishes, to live with the husband under the altered circumstances and share his consortium with another woman, if it concludes, on a review of the evidence, that it will be inequitable to compel her to do so.” – INDIA NEWS STREAM