Saudi man claims to have married 53 times in 43 years

Marriage

63-yr-old now married to one woman, says pursuit of happiness, stability behind marriages

A Saudi man has claimed to have married 53 times, saying his aim was stability and peace of mind, not personal pleasure.

Nicknamed the “polygamist of the century”, the 63-year-old man told Saudi-owned television MBC that he is now married to one woman and does not plan to remarry.

“When I married for the first time, I did not plan to marry more than one woman because I was feeling comfortable and had children,” he recalled. “But after a while, problems happened and I decided to marry again when I was 23 years old and I informed my wife of my decision,” the man known as Abu Abdullah or father of Abdullah added.

He said later a problem erupted between his first and second wives, prompting him to remarry for the third and fourth times. Abu Abdullah said he later divorced the first, second and third wives.

He argued that the reason for his multiple marriages was his search for a woman who could make him happy, saying he tried to be fair to all his wives.

“I married 53 women over long periods. The first was when I was 20 years and she was six years older than me,” he said.

According to him, his shortest spell of marriage was for one night. “Every man in the world wishes to have one woman and remain with her for ever.... Stability is not to be found with a young woman, but with an old one,” he added.

“Most of my marriages were to Saudi women.” Abu Abdullah said he had also married foreign women during his overseas business trips. “I used to stay for three to four months. So I married to protect myself from vice,” he said.

In Islam, which permits marrying up to four wives at one time, if a man cannot deal justly with all his wives, then he must marry one only.