Nigerian advises against 86 wives

[PoorFan]

Nigerian advises against 86 wives

By Andrew Walker BBC News, Bida, Nigeria Mr Bello Abubakar says he does not go and find women, they come to him Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, has advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women. The former teacher and Muslim preacher, who lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, says he is able to cope only with the help of God. "A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC. He says his wives have sought him out because of his reputation as a healer. "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." But such claims have alienated the Islamic authorities in Nigeria, who have branded his family a cult. When you marry a man with 86 wives you know he knows how to look after them Wife Ganiat Bello Abubakar Most Muslim scholars agree that a man is allowed to have four wives, as long as he can treat them equally. But Mr Bello Abubakar says there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives. "To my understanding the Koran does not place a limit and it is up to what your own power, your own endowment and ability allows," he says. "God did not say what the punishment should be for a man who has more than four wives, but he was specific about the punishment for fornication and adultery." 'Order from God' As Mr Bello Abubakar emerged from his compound to speak to the BBC, his wives and children broke out into a praise song. Some of Mr Bello Abubakar's wives are younger than some of his children Most of his wives are less than a quarter of his age - and many are younger than some of his own children. The wives the BBC spoke to say they met Mr Bello Abubakar when they went to him to seek help for various illnesses, which they say he cured. "As soon as I met him the headache was gone," says Sharifat Bello Abubakar, who was 25 at the time and Mr Bello Abubakar 74. "God told me it was time to be his wife. Praise be to God I am his wife now." Ganiat Mohammed Bello has been married to the man everyone calls "Baba" for 20 years. When she was in secondary school her mother took her for a consultation with Mr Bello Abubakar and he proposed afterwards. "I said I couldn't marry an older man, but he said it was directly an order from God," she says. She married another man but they divorced and she returned to Mr Bello Abubakar. "I am now the happiest woman on earth. When you marry a man with 86 wives you know he knows how to look after them," she said. No work Mr Bello Abubakar and his wives do not work and he has no visible means of supporting such a large family. Many of the wives live three to a room, some have seven children He refuses to say how he makes enough money to pay for the huge cost of feeding and clothing so many people. Every mealtime they cook three 12kg bags of rice which all adds up to $915 (£457) every day. "It's all from God," he says. Other residents of Bida, the village where he lives in the northern Nigerian state, say they do not know how he supports the family. According to one of his wives, Mr Bello Abubakar sometimes asks his children to go and beg for 200 naira ($1.69, £0.87), which if they all did so would bring in about $290 (£149). Most of his wives live in a squalid, unfinished house in Bida; others live in his house in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. He refuses to allow any of his family or other devotees to take medicine and says he does not believe that malaria exists. They were sick and we told God and God said their time has come Wife Hafsat Bello Abubakar "As you sit here if you have any illness I can see it and just remove it," he says. But not everyone can be cured and one of his wives, Hafsat Bello Mohammed, says two of her children have died. "They were sick and we told God and God said their time has come." She says that most of the wives see Mr Bello Abubakar as next in line from the Prophet Muhammad. Indeed, he claims the Prophet Muhammad speaks to him personally and gives detailed descriptions of his experiences. It is a serious claim for a Muslim to make. "This is heresy, he is a heretic," says Ustaz Abubakar Siddique, an imam of Abuja's Central Mosque.

BBC NEWS

Anyone having tough time to find a bride? Better give a try in Nigeria.
Joke apart, look how one can bend religion to gain his whatever benefit.

[al Furqaan]

LOL...thats just funny.

in some parts of the world its hard enough just finding one wife, let alone tolerating her...86 prolly does require divine help.

on another note, the quran says "marry of the women two or three or four. but if you cannot do justice, then one only". i think that limits it to four, max.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Ever since I learned where babies come from, I started to look up to my maternal grandfather. He was, to this day, my sole hero. A skinny guy standing 5 feet short, he had eleven kids with a bulky woman (taller than him too) in a time span of 18 years. Talk about stamina.

Today, though, I have found my new hero.

[Rabz]

Move over Heffner, this guy is the real deal.

Hope he goes on and makes his own century!

[ialbd]

very well.... advice taken.......

[Kabir]

Mashallah. Allah jaare dey, taare chappor faira dey.

[Puck]

mashallah indeed. what a beacon of hope and surely this pious and brilliant muslim shall inspire our brand of conservatives in this groups. the healer is spreading his seed through those 170 children. in turn they would surely heal the anglican christians in nigeria as well and it would be one happy muslim nation.

[Antora]

WHAT!!!!! 86 wives??? excuse me but that's just wrong! well i find it wrong anyway. I mean how can all his wives not be jelous of eachother? i hate it how guys can have 4 wives,i just feel that it's not right. i mean if the person i get married to goes off and gets another wife.. either she dies or die!! jeez how can you share the person you love?

[BD-Shardul]

Originally Posted by Kabir
Mashallah. Allah jaare dey, taare chappor faira dey.

BTW, this is just nonsense. A Muslim is not allowed to have more than four wives. Period.

[Ajfar]

atta boii..that's a true playa right there...

[Rabz]

Originally Posted by BD-Shardul


BTW, this is just nonsense. A Muslim is not allowed to have more than four wives. Period.

Did you mean 4 wives at a given time?

[PoorFan]

Originally Posted by antora93
WHAT!!!!! 86 wives??? excuse me but that's just wrong! well i find it wrong anyway. I mean how can all his wives not be jelous of eachother? i hate it how guys can have 4 wives,i just feel that it's not right. i mean if the person i get married to goes off and gets another wife.. either she dies or die!! jeez how can you share the person you love?

This is not logical! why don't you go and kill him, instead of her or yourself!? We are living in the age of 'feminist' remember? or you just cant give up your love even you become a murderer!? Sounds hell of a 'romantic' in a sense.

[Tehsin]

The four wives surely made sense during THAT time. With war widows being subjected to you know what, taking them in as wives was more respectful. Atleast that's one of the ideas floating behind the whole four wives rule. Like many other things, we can only assume what the actual reasonings are behind all religous - no matter what religion - teachings.

Anyways, the guy is a smhuck. He could have easily found them a husband. Instead, he created his own little Har.. Cult is probably a good way of categorizing what he has going over there.

[Nocturnal]

[Puck]

Originally Posted by Tehsin
The four wives surely made sense during THAT time. With war widows being subjected to you know what, taking them in as wives was more respectful. Atleast that's one of the ideas floating behind the whole four wives rule. Like many other things, we can only assume what the actual reasonings are behind all religous - no matter what religion - teachings.

Anyways, the guy is a smhuck. He could have easily found them a husband. Instead, he created his own little Har.. Cult is probably a good way of categorizing what he has going over there.

i have several nigerian friends. they tell me that this custom is very much a norm in rural nigeria. the only group of people who do not engage in polygamy are the christian tribes.

[Sohel]

One wife too many.

85 is a much more elegant number.

[Tehsin]

j/k. Hez already gone way to far. he is 84, married 86 times. Where's the parity there? He should go three years without any more 'miracles' and take his 87th wife at the age of 87. Restrict it to one every year. Fair is Fair.