The Quran

Preface

وَإِن خِفتُم أَلّا تُقسِطوا فِي اليَتامىٰ فَانكِحوا ما طابَ لَكُم مِنَ النِّساءِ مَثنىٰ وَثُلاثَ وَرُباعَ ۖ فَإِن خِفتُم أَلّا تَعدِلوا فَواحِدَةً أَو ما مَلَكَت أَيمانُكُم ۚ ذٰلِكَ أَدنىٰ أَلّا تَعولوا

Yusuf Ali

If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans,¹ Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.²

Notice the conditional clause about orphans, introducing the rules about marriage. This reminds us of the immediate occasion of the promulgation of this verse. It was after Uḥud, when the Muslim community was left with many orphans and widows and some captives of war. Their treatment was to be governed by principles of the greatest humanity and equity. The occasion is past, but the principles remain. Marry the orphans if you are quite sure that you will in that way protect their interests and their property, with perfect justice to them and to your own dependants if you have any. If not, make other arrangements for the orphans.
The unrestricted number of wives of the “Times of Ignorance” was now strictly limited to a maximum of four, provided you could treat them with equality (Cf. 33:4 and 33:51). (R).