Does a man need his first wife's permission before taking a second wife?

Her permission is not a condition for the validity of the second marriage: Allah made the permission of plural marriage conditional upon justice, not upon the consent of the existing wife (Quran 4:3). What he is strictly bound to is equality in what lies within his control — nights, housing, and maintenance — and the Prophet ﷺ warned: "When a man has two wives and inclines toward one of them, he will come on the Day of Resurrection with one side hanging down" (Sunan Abi Dawud 2133, sahih). The verse "You will never be able to be perfectly just between women... so do not incline completely toward one and leave the other hanging" (4:129) refers to the inclination of the heart, which is not in a man's power and is therefore not sinful, provided he does not leave the other wife suspended. A woman may, however, stipulate in her marriage contract that he not marry another. The majority of scholars hold such a stipulation void while the marriage itself stands, but the Ḥanbalīs — with strong evidence — hold it binding, since the Prophet ﷺ said, "The conditions most deserving to be fulfilled are those by which intimacy is made lawful" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2721); on their view, if he breaks it she has the right to annul the marriage.

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