While three sister wives may seem like one big, happy family on Big Love, try having 86! Mohammed Bello Abubakar, an 84-year-old Muslim preacher in Nigeria, has married more women than years he’s been alive and most of his wives are, surprisingly, in their twenties. Can you imagine trying to feed the 170 children he’s fathered?! Neither he nor his wives work, but they somehow manage to pay for the $915 (26.5 lbs) worth of rice they consume each day. Needless to say, the Islamic Authorities in his home state consider him a cult leader, but he fancies himself a shaman who doesn’t believe in modern medicine. Abubakar credits his healing powers with his ability to attract so many women. He told the BBC, “I don’t go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them… That is why I have been able to control 86 of them.” Um, what a romantic? [BBC] Keep reading »
Tag Archives: islam
Egypt’s First Female “Maazun”
Egypt has appointed its first female official to certify marriages and divorces. Amal Soliman applied for the “maazun” position because it would allow her to work close to her home and three children, not because she wanted to start a debate, which she has. “It is wrong to have a woman in this position,” one man said. “My sheikh tells me that if we are to get married that we must avoid her because she can’t do the job.” Part of the issue some people have with her appointment is that women aren’t allowed to enter mosques or read Quaranic verses when they’re menstruating. Amal says she plans to conduct home visits during those times and will also have an assistant who will be able to enter the mosque when she cannot. Ten others, all men, applied for the job, but Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei said Amal was chosen based “on her abilities rather than on her gender.” Keep reading »
Star Couplings: It’s Raining Babies!
