Secret Dubai

For an insightful perspective on life in Dubai and the UAE, take a look at Secret Dubai. [Thanks to JC of the Emirates Economist for the pointer].

In one of their posts, they discuss the propagation properties of Daad Mohammed Murad:

"Already head of the largest family in the UAE, Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman is about to marry for the twelfth time. Daad, 57, has 68 children by his first 11 wives, with two more on the way. A near-fatal road accident may have cost him one leg, but it has done nothing to dampen his spirits."

Daad's reasons for so many wives and kids are far from compelling. He wants to "remove the demographic imbalance" of Asian expatriates - despite the fact that eight out of his first eleven wives are Asian. He wants them to act as a defence "in case of any foreign invasion." And he wants to get into the Guiness Book of Records....

"Daad relies on his wives to do much of the housework, so he says he needs to replace them when they get too old. When one woman became weak, another strong one had to be brought in to manage the home."

The fate of the women he divorces is also not mentioned.

Every posting at this blog has pithy insight. Here is another. And whatever you do, don't miss this one about someone jailed for having broken wind in front of a lady.
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Digression:
In an earlier posting, I wrote about polygamy:

As a male who would likely have risked being left without a partner in a society that permitted polygamy, I am understandably opposed to polygamy out of pure self-interest. It strikes me that in a society of free choice, permitting polygamy only increases the demand for women as potential marriage partners, thus making women better off relative to men, in comparison with the situation under monogamy.

Several female commenters at the time pointed out that they might prefer fewer material goods in exchange for a more meaningful monogamous relationship.