Re: What are your thoughts on polygamous marriage/being a co-wife?
There is a mullah brigade out there that is pushing this theory. It’s sick. We have to be careful of people who twist things in Islam.
Rasullullah’s example with his daughter and his son-in-law is sufficient of a hadith that jurisprudence should REQUIRE consent of the first wife. This is why the Pakistani law actually requires consent, unlike some Arab countries. However, now this poisonous extremist mullah brigade (they’re always wahabbi influenced, so you have to be careful of the wahabbis - they have an age old agenda of perverting Islam, I argue, Shaitaan has gotten to them), that are pushing this agenda that consent is not required.
Subjecting women and their children to polygamous relationships that are not done out of a societal need but rather lust, is against Islam. It’s a misuse of polygamy. You’re allowed to eat meat right, but even the Quran recommends “manna” and so the interpretation is actually that yes eat meat, but GLUTTONY of meat isn’t allowed. Killing and devouring too much meat isn’t good for you. Everything in balance. Likewise, misusing polygamy to oppress your wife - then it becomes haraaam if a good thing is used for the purposes of oppression. In other words, men who aren’t happy with the former wife and bring in the second because their former relationship is going south. So this is now a punishment to your first wife.
Hamza Yusuf in his lectures has lectured that whenever something Islamically is being used for the purposes of oppression (and doing something against someone’s consent = oppression) then it is no longer halaal. I agree w/his position on this.
There are many many scholars who state you need consent. Far more than the ones who say you don’t.
And like I said, you have Fatima (R)'s example in front of you. Ali (R) stayed monogamous with Fatima (R). There were no co-wives.