The nonlinear evolution of magnetic islands is analysed in configurations with multiple resonant magnetic surfaces. The existence of multiple nonlinear steady states is discussed. These are shown to be associated with states where the dynamics around the different rational surfaces are coupled or decoupled and in the presence of a wall of finite resistivity may correspond to wall-locked or non-wall-locked magnetic islands. For the case of strong wall stabilization the locking is shown to consist of two different phases. During the first phase the locking of the plasma at the different rational surfaces occurs. Only when the outermost resonant magnetic surface has locked to the inner surfaces can the actual wall locking process take place. Consequently, wall locking of a global mode, involving more than one rational surface, can be prevented by the decoupling of the resonant magnetic surfaces by plasma rotation. Possible implications on tokamak experiments are discussed.