[Goldmine]

No need for apologies. Your question is fair.

Concubines are not legally recognized but wives are. That means, the wives have rights, like inheritance and such.

My point is since Islam allow the men to have 4 wives why would there be concubines. 4 wives is already one too many. There is no need for the men to have concubines.  If a married man like another girl and have not reach the limit allowed he can just marry her as his 2nd wife or 3rd or 4th.  No need for the forbidence of the word concubines in Quaran. Irrrelevant as I don't think the men wld have four wives. In ancient China the dynasty era there are concubines. In the Malay dynasty are there?