A sign of the Hour: 50 women for every man Fatwa No: 193435
- Fatwa Date:17-12-2012
assalam aleikum shekh is it true that one of the sighns of the day of judjement is that one man will marry 40 or 50 wives jazakallah
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Perhaps the person who mentioned this was referring to the Hadeeth narrated by Al-Bukhari from Anas who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, saying: “The signs of the Hour include the scarcity of knowledge, the manifestation of ignorance, the display of adultery, the abundance of women, and the decrease of men to the extent that for fifty women there will be one man.” In another narration: “And you will see one man followed by forty women.”
This statement was interpreted to have either of two meanings: the first is that one man will be managing their affairs and fulfilling their needs. The other is that this could indicate that they follow him to ask him to have intercourse, whether in a lawful (i.e. marriage) or unlawful way. These two opinions were mentioned by Ibn Hajar in Fat'h Al-Baari and by others. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82276 regarding the signs of the Hour.
However, it is lawful in Islam for a man to marry only four women or less. For further benefit, please refer to Fataawa 81469 and 86893.
Allaah Knows best.