Manama: A Saudi matchmaker had the shock of her life when she discovered that she had uknowingly selected a second wife for her husband.
The woman, known as Om Mohammad, has been in the matchmaking business for nine years. She often attends wedding ceremonies to spot young women, divorcees or widows looking for husbands.
Her communications with men and families looking for brides are often limited to the WhatsApp application.
“They mention the details they want in the women of their dreams, and I try to help them make their dreams come true,” she said.
“One day, I received a message on my WhatsApp account from a man who did not identify himself. I did not know the number, but the man spelled out the features he looked for in a wife. I promised to help, as I regularly did with clients, and when I was attending a wedding ceremony, I spotted a woman who fit his requirements,” she said, quoted by Saudi daily Al Riyadh on Thursday.
Om Mohammad added that she contacted the number and gave them the name of the young woman’s family and shared their communication details.
“I thought that my role was over, but a few days later, my husband praised me for my ‘high taste’ and thanked me for my role. I was puzzled by his attitude until he explained to me that he was the man who had contacted me looking for a wife and that he was going to marry the woman I had selected,” she said.
Matchmaking flourished in Saudi Arabia where the mixing of men and women is strictly banned and arranged marriages are often the rule for traditional families.
Families ready to marry off their sons or daughters contact matchmakers with details about them which they use when they go on around to match candidates. Wedding ceremonies are among the favoured opportunities for matchmakers who readily take advantage of the presence of a high number of young women.
However, the deep-rooted tradition is now being challenged by the growing number of Internet accounts offering online marriage services to Saudi men and women seeking spouses.
