RIYADH, 15 February 2006 — The stories about husbands that decide that one wife isn’t enough can often be funny to those that read about them, if not to those that are the subject of them. Take, for example, stories of wives who discover that their husbands have secretly married other women.
Al-Riyadh newspaper recently spoke to women who have had unfortunate experiences with polygamist husbands.
Um Omar said that her husband had married a second wife and it was months before she found out. She did not suspect anything because little had changed after the second marriage. Her husband continued to come home on time; his personality did not change. It was only serendipity that she found out.
“Usually when I am cleaning my husband’s clothes I search his pockets. I put everything aside in case there’s an important number or a piece of paper that he wants. One day I noticed a big piece of paper in his pocket — it was a marriage contract,” said Um Omar.
Socked with disbelief, she called her sister and had to show her the proof before she could believe what her brother-in-law had done. Um Omar’s sister tried to comfort her by saying that it is normal and happened in most marriages.
(In fact, a minority of Saudi males are polygamist — having more than one wife is an expensive proposition.)
Um Omar finally decided to confront her husband. When she saw him she simply showed him the marriage contract. He panicked at first but then confessed to his second marriage four months ago.
Um Omar asked for a divorce, saying that she could not live with a cheating husband.
Al-Riyadh reported on another woman who had been married for 35 years. She eventually discovered that her husband had a second wife half her age. He managed to hide his secret marriage because he was a traveling businessman. But one day, her relative saw him abroad with another woman in a shopping center.
At first she suspected that her relatives were confusing her husband with another man. She lived in this denial for a while, thinking her husband’s business reputation would prevent him from sneaking behind her back. But eventually, she had to know the truth.
“I confronted my husband when he returned home. He denied my suspicions and accused me of being delusional. His reaction made me more suspicious. I put him under supervision. I sent private investigators after him to monitor his movement, even when he traveled abroad. I bought tickets for my spies to tail him. At last I discovered that he married an 18-year-old girl; he’s approaching 60,” said the woman.
She confronted him again, this time with pictures. He conceded, saying he feels old with her because she is sick and always need medical attention and that he wants to feel young with a younger wife.
Al-Riyadh reported another occasion where a woman confronted her husband in the middle of a market with his new wife. This man managed to lie to both women, telling Wife No. 1 that he did not marry Wife No. 2 and telling Wife No. 2 that he was single.
Wife No. 1’s friends saw the husband shopping with his new bride in a market in Jeddah. They immediately contacted their friend by cell phone and told her the news. Her friends monitored the man’s movements inside the market until the wife arrived.
When Wife No. 1 arrived he was inside a jewelry store buying Wife No. 2 some gold. She approached like a cat and stood next to him and watched him. He didn’t notice her for a while.
“His new bride looked at me thinking that I was flirting with her husband. When he turned to me, his face drained of color, as if he saw the angel of death. He was speechless. I simply smiled back at him, waiting for him to speak. His new wife pushed me away, wanting to teach me a lesson in manners. I told her to save her lessons for my husband, lessons in honesty. She was shocked when she learned that I was his wife and that we had three kids. She confronted our husband who was still speechless. He was in a bad situation: facing two angry wives and a whole bunch of onlookers. We, the two scorned wives, left the store together, leaving the cheat alone.”
