The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away while he had nine wives. He used to visit each of them in turn, except Sawda, who had given her day and night to Ayesha.
توفي رسول الله ﷺ وعنده تسع نسوة يصيبهن إلا سودة فإنها وهبت يومها وليلتها لعائشة.
Narrated by Nasai (3197) from Ibrahim bin Yaqub, who said, Ibn Abu Maryam narrated to us, who said, Sufyan informed us, who said, Amr bin Dinar narrated to me, from Ataa, from Ibn Abbas, and he mentioned it. Its isnad is sahih.Jurisprudence of this chapter, justice between wives is obligatory. As for the manner of dividing time, there is no disagreement that a husband must allot each wife her own night along with its day, though some jurists do not consider the day obligatory, while still not permitting him to visit her during the day without need. As for intercourse with each wife every night, no one has held this to be required. Rather, what is obligatory is only spending the night with her for companionship, and he may have intercourse with some of them during their turn but not others.Among the benefits found in the hadiths of this chapter is evidence that wives may gather at one wife's home with the consent of the one whose turn it is, in her own house. It also shows that the husband goes around to the homes of his wives, and does not summon them to his own home. It also shows the obligation of justice between wives in maintenance and clothing. It also shows that if a husband visits one of his wives out of necessity, he should not have intercourse with her, whereas love and inclination fall outside the scope of justice, which is the meaning of his saying, "This is what I control, so do not blame me for what I do not control," meaning the inclination of the heart. As for the division of time, maintenance, and clothing, these are within one's power, indeed they are obligatory.Some scholars have said that this is alluded to in Allah's statement, "You will never be able to be perfectly just between wives, even if you desire to be" [Nisa 4:129], meaning complete justice between wives, which would be having equal love and inclination, and then equal intercourse. All of this is beyond one's ability, so do not neglect what you are able to do, namely justice in the division of time, maintenance, clothing, and lodging. For if your inclination toward one of them in all of these matters causes the other to be left, as it were, suspended, then do not do that. Rather, you must set things right between your wives by committing to fulfill the duties owed to them. Whoever does this and is mindful of Allah, then indeed Allah is forgiving and merciful.