Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

If the divorce that has been issued to the fourth wife is a

revocable divorce – i.e., it is the first or second talaaq – then the

scholars are unanimously agreed that a woman who has been given a revocable

divorce is still to be considered a wife until her ‘iddah is over. (al-Mughni,

7/104).  If it is proven that she is still your wife, then you should note

that the scholars are agreed that it is not permissible for a free man to

have more than four wives at one time, because of the hadeeth narrated by

al-Tirmidhi (1128) from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) that

Ghaylaan ibn Salamah al-Thaqafi became Muslim and he had ten wives during

the Jaahiliyyah; they became Muslim along with him, and the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded him to choose four of

them. This was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani, as stated in Saheeh Sunan

al-Tirmidhi, 1/329.

It is clear from the above that it is not permissible for a

man to marry a fifth wife during the ‘iddah of a wife who has been given a

revocable divorce, because by doing so he will have five wives at the same

time, and the Sahaabah, the four imams and all of Ahl al-Sunnah

wa’l-Jamaa’ah are agreed, in word and deed, that it is not permissible for a

man to have more than four wives at one time, except for the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah

said in al-Fataawa al-Kubra (4/154), that the great Taabi’i ‘Ubaydah

al-Salmaani said: “The companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him) did not agree on anything as much as they agreed that a

fifth wife cannot be married during the ‘iddah of the fourth, and a woman

cannot be taken as a co-wife with her sister.” Whoever wants to have more

than four wives is going against the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His

Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and is

going against Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah.

See Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, al-Fataawa al-Jaami’ah

li’l-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, 2/641.

If this has taken place,

then the marriage contract is invalid, and you have to leave her until the

‘iddah of your divorced wife is over. If you have consummated the marriage

with her – i.e., with the fifth wife – then you have to give her the mahr

that is given to women of her social standing, and she has to wait out the

‘iddah of one who is divorced. Then if you want to marry her after that, you

must make another marriage contract with her, meeting all the conditions

prescribed in sharee’ah for a marriage contract.

But if your divorce of the fourth wife is an irrevocable

divorce – i.e., a third talaaq – then there is a difference of scholarly

opinion as to whether it is permissible to marry a fifth wife during the

‘iddah of the fourth wife following a third talaaq. The Hanbalis and Hanafis

say that this is not allowed, and this is the view regarded as most correct

by Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him). See

Kitaab Fataawa al-Talaaq by Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 1/278. On this basis, the

ruling is the same as that described above in the case of a revocable

divorce. When the ‘iddah of the woman who has been divorced for a third time

comes to an end, it is then permissible for him to make a marriage contract

with her (the fifth woman). And Allaah knows best.

But in the case of the fourth wife dying, it is permissible

for him to get married after she dies, because the marriage is not

considered to be still in effect in this case.

And Allaah knows best