393. Justice for the orphans and polygamy.

Verse 4:3 of the Quran talks of justice for the orphans connected with polygamy.

When an affluent person passes away leaving behind a young daughter, the responsibility of taking care of her falls on the relatives.

The person who thus undertakes the responsibilities those days, marries the girl without paying her the mandatory dower and at the same usurping her property.

This verse was revealed as a warning to those who were indulging in such activities. With a mandate to marry three or four women, at the same time shouldered with the responsibility as a guardian for an orphaned girl, this verse of the Quran was revealed as an advice to people manipulating orphans.

Generally, man tends to remain a traitor to those who are under his care as their caretaker without realizing it himself, he does so because of the thought he is the person who maintains the orphan.

This is the weakness the Almighty points out in this verse. ‘Get the orphans married to appropriate persons, and you marry elsewhere’ is the message built here can be seen in verse 4:127 of the Quran.

Moreover, there are chances not only for the properties of orphaned girls being misappropriated, but also their marriage rights being violated by the guardians unjustly marrying the orphan girls themselves.

The phrases in this verse of the Quran includes this kind of injustice meted out to orphans with the words ‘If you apprehend that you will not be able to deliver justice in the case of orphans’ as a reminder. 

Please refer to explanation point 106 to know in detail about permission for polygamy.