Equality between wives

Q: My friend offered for me to be his second wife. Before agreeing, I would like to know about the rights of a second wife. How does it differ from the rights of the first wife? He told me that he will not live with me and have more children with me because he already has three children. I'm very young and I also want to build a full-fledged family by have children and that my husband could be with me and support me. He lives very far from me, and if we make nikah, it will not change anything. He will still live with his first wife and does not want to have more children.

So I wanted to ask you, what is the difference between the rights of the second wife from the first wife? Can he live far from me and see me only 1-2 times a week for only 1-2 hours, is it correct?

A: If he cannot manage to exercise equality between both wives, then you should not marry him.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

 

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)