Ahmed Muhamed Dore is 112 and has 18 children by five wives. However, this week he added a sixth wife, Safia Abdulleh, 17. The marriage was blessed under the Islamic traditions of the area. It is part of a disturbing trend of cases where young girls are married off to older men under Sharia law.
By past measures, Safia is an older woman, here, here, here, here.
While Safia is old enough to be his great-great-grand-daughter, the groom insisted that he watched her grow up and wooed her: “I didn’t force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love; and then we agreed to marry,.” That’s right, most 17-year-old girls dream of marrying someone over a century old.
For the full story, click here.
How can she be his sixth, when Islamic law limits it to 4?
LottaKz,
I saw that photo.
If that guy is 112 years old, then I’m his great grandfather.
Furthermore, regarding the young lady’s ‘puffy’ eyes, surely you hard heard that old song called “Two Lovely Black Eyes” Charles Coborn
CHORUS: Two lovely black eyes!
Oh! what a surprise!
Only for telling a man he was wrong,
Two lovely black eyes!
In the photo that accompanies the linked article the groom is smiling and the bride is not and her eyes seem puffy. Just say’n.
Makes Roman Polanski look like Billy Graham.
I think it is extremely demeaning to women to commend a forced marriage between a 112 year old man and a 17 year old girl.I think Patty C was right about the sexism, AY.
Good for him, if he can get it up at 112 then get it on. Ah the vestiages of the fertile octagenerian.
There is logic to this. After all, had the gentleman married a 112 year old woman, she would in all likelihood be unable to bear him any children.
I am sure that the young lady was always dreamin’ of this old codger since childhood, as this Snow White song seems to illustrate.
I’m wondering why everyone is so indignant. It’s odd that the nation claims equality, then pejorates anyone different from them.
Granted, I don’t agree with a lot of Sharia (law). This instance, however, seems to reflect Islamic culture more than Arabian chauvinism. So why is this story automatically reprehensible when there is no indication anyone will be unhappy or treated poorly or abused?
So far, I’ve read something along the lines of, “she couldn’t want to marry him”; “this is religious dogma used to circumvent women’s rights” etc. That kind of thinking seems a lot like ethnocentric and xenophobic biggotry. It also explains how we’re hardly better than the militants we’re so “united and standing” against. What gives?
Jake
Hans:
Immaturity is rampant in our culture, but I have a thought that prosperity does that to a people/culture. When something is easy there is no growth because there is no bad experience to learn from or to overcome.
I for one am glad for the prosperity and I will take immaturity over having 17 year olds marry old men. There is something fundamentally wrong with that whether it be for love, money or just forced on the person.
My, we are quick with the righteous indignation. Maybe she’s pulling an Anna Nicole Smith, just hoping for a quick inheritance. She’s 17 after all, in a society where people don’t stay infantile as long as they do here.
“I didn’t force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love; and then we agreed to marry,.”
You mean telling her what it was like when you were watching the wheel being invented?
It was probably the George Bush motivational speech that got these two involved in the community.
one wife is more than enough. I imagine one husband is more than enough as well.
At least if she runs away, he won’t be able to run after her. This is yet another example of how religous dogma is abused to the detriment of women.
Overpopulation is pollution.
And it causes excessive pollutions of other types obviously.
Hope the dude does not have any more children.
Why can’t he just listen to music?
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/10/listen-to-music.html
Just sickening. “Didn’t force her” but I bet her family received a large dowry in exchange for their “blessings”.
And he has the nerve to say that “God” helped him realise a dream.
According to the Telegraph, he already has 18 children by his other five wives.