assalam o alaiqum sheikh. I know a learned sister who has studied the shafa'ie mazhab. We were discussing islamic polygyny and she said that the scholars of the past have said that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wives are accumulation of dunyah (unless the man has a purely religious reason for more mariages) while the first wife is for a man's akhirah. She did not directly mention the scholars or books where this was said. Hence I am writing this question to verify with you about what she said; that the scholars of the past consider the first marriage to be for the deen while the 2nd and subsequent marriages are considered to be accumulation of worldly desires.

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.

We could not find any of the scholars stating what you have mentioned in the question. You may ask the sister who reported that opinion to you for the source.

It is known that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had eleven wives and passed away leaving behind nine living wives. All marriages of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had valid and legitimate purposes. Some scholars held that it is recommended to take a second wife; some even maintained that it is incumbent on the man to take a second wife if he is unable to maintain his chastity and his first wife does not satisfy his sexual needs, on condition that he can treat them justly. Ibn Qudaamah wrote, “In marriage, people are of three categories. Some men may fear to fall into temptation if they do not marry. According to the majority of jurists, it is obligatory on such a man to marry in order to guard himself against what is unlawful....” [Al-Mughni]

It should be noted that there is no difference in this regard between the first or second marriage; the Hanbali scholar Al-Mardaawi wrote, “It is recommended that he confines himself to marrying only one wife if he is sexually satisfied and able to preserve his chastity, according to the preferred opinion of the Hanbali Mathhab. Ibn Al-Jawzi said: ‘unless he is not satisfied with only one wife.’ It was also said that it is recommended to take a second wife as in the case he is not satisfied with only one. This is what is apparent from the pronouncement of Imaam Ahmad. He maintained that in this case, he should borrow money (if financially unable) and take a second wife; then there is hope that he will escape (temptation).” [Al-Insaaf]

Allaah Knows best.