The Rare Ahadith

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the case of a man who has married four women in one marriage contract or that he said in one session with different amounts of mahr (dower) for each one. He (the Imam) said, ’It is permissible for them.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if he travels to a different town and divorces one of the four in the presence of witnesses from the people of that town who do not know the woman. He then marries a woman from that town after completion of ‘Iddah (waiting period) of the woman he has divorced. Then he dies after going to bed with the woman whom he has married last; how his legacy is distributed? He (the Imam) said, ‘If he has children the share of the woman whom he has married last is one-fourth of one-eighth. If the woman divorced is identified in person and lineage, she will not receive any share and she must complete ‘Iddah (waiting period).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘The other three women must distribute the remaining three-forths of one-eighth and they must complete their ‘Iddah (waiting period). If the divorced woman cannot be identified, the four women distribute the three-forths of one-eighth among themselves and they all must complete their ‘Iddah (waiting period).”’