Is it mandatory for a husband get the consent of his current wife(s) if he wishes to marry another woman? And why?
If so, should he get the consent of all his wives in case he has more than one?
And if it's mandatory and he doesn't get the consent, knowingly or unknowingly, or the wife/wives refuse to give the consent, but still marries another woman, would the marriage be valid?
There is no need to take the wife's consent for new marriage As it is the right for a man to have 4 wives due to Qur'an.
This Fatwa has another aspect, which the second or several marriage is under the country laws. For example, In Iran if you marry another woman without your wife's consent, your first wife can go to the court and take her divorce from her husband (without his allowance and either his consent) and also takes the half of the wealth of her husband.
The quotation given by @American Muslim above is a Sahih narration but in another narrations [Bukhaari, 3110; Muslim, 2449] The Prophet (sm) dealt with this when he said, in the same story, “.....and I am not making any permissible thing forbidden, or any forbidden thing permitted.”
So, this story does not give the slightest support to those who try to use it to restrict plural marriage.
http://islamqa.info/en/162287
As a general rule of sharia: one need not seek permission of his previous wife(s) to get married again 2nd, 3rd or 4th time.
“… marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly (with them) then only one…” (4:3)
And Allah’s sharia (Islamic law) is all just and wise, and He ordains what He wills and does what He want. It is obligatory upon all human beings to believe and have faith and submit and obey and abide by the sharia. Otherwise we are not Muslims nor mu’mineen (believers). As Allah also said in Surat al-Nisaa’ ayah 65 a verse whose meaning can be translated as:
“But no, by your Lord, they can have no (real) faith until they make you judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction” (3:65)
and in Surat al-Ahzaab, ayah 36, a meaning that can be translated as:
“It is not fitting for a mu’min (believing man) or mu’mina (believing woman) when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if anyone disobeys Allah and His Apostle he is indeed strayed on a manifestly wrong path.” (33:36)
Furthermore, no evidence appears neither in the Qur’an nor sunnah requiring the permission of the first wife if her husband wishes to marry another wife, and therefore he is not required to ask her permission. However, he needs to be judicious in taking this decision and to weigh it carefully with respect to benefits and drawbacks and to look with the eye of wisdom at all of the considerations pertaining to the matter, and he should strive all he can to conciliate, reassure, and satisfy his first wife, in order to ease and mitigate the effect of the matter upon her.
BUT, if any of the previous wives put a condition in the marriage contract, then the husband need to seek permission if he wills to marry and seeking permission is mandatory in that case [that falls under the ruling on breaking contract]
It is allowed to have more than 1 wife but your wife has to agreed, if she allowed it then you can. But if she doesn't you can't.
“Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a man who married a woman, and she stipulated that he should not take another wife or make her move from her home, and that she could live with her mother, and he went ahead (with the marriage) on that basis. Is he obliged to adhere to that, and if he goes against these conditions, does the wife have the right to annul the marriage or not? "
-source: Islamaqa.info
If a man wants a good marriage, then it is only logical to consult his wife/wives on such matters. If a man does not want a good marriage, then let the man drown in his own arrogance.
With the above being said, in Islam, a husband does not need permission of his wife/wives for marriage, this is a man's right as dictated in the Quran. This right comes with hefty responsibilities though, hence treat them all equally. That means if you buy one a car, then you buy all of them a car. This is not negotiable. This also includes love, there aren't many men out there who would be able to maintain that perfect balance.
Today I have seen many cases where a man has one wife in Europe, one in America, and one in Asia. The man stays with one in America, and completely neglects the rest. This is wrong as it breaks the condition which allows men to have more than one wife to begin with.
The source: Surah Nisa, chapter 4 verse 3
