Like any parent, Ajman resident Mohammed Rahim Murad never tires of talking about his children, all 60 of them
Mention the joys of fatherhood to Daad Mohammed Rahim Murad, and you are in for a very, very, long story of Sheherezade proportions. Like any parent, he never tires of talking about his children... all 60 of them.
And when he is finished doing that, he will tell you how much he is looking forward to the other two that are on the way. Then tell you confidently that he has a final target of 100!
He says laughingly: "I only wish my own father was alive today to see my accomplishments. He had only 22 children from his two wives."
Mind you, at times he has difficulty recalling the names of all his children, and relies on his wives - he has had 11 in total - to help him out with this. And, he admits, sometimes he does not even recognise some of the children immediately.
Finding fresh names for new children is a major problem. Whenever a new child is on the way, Murad calls a family conference at which all his other offspring search for a name by committee. "We try not to use the same name more than once."
Born in Baluchistan, 55-year-old Murad came to settle in Sharjah in 1955, and now lives in Al Manama village in Ajman.
Even after losing a leg in a car crash in Ajman four years ago, he went on to father another 22 children.
The loss of the leg resulted in his only brush with modern medical science. For Murad does not believe in doctors and conventional medicine, preferring instead his own form of herbal medicine based on tree leaves.
He also shuns modern technology, refusing even to have a television set.
"This generation spends all the time eating fast food and sitting stuck in front of the TV or computer screen," he maintains.
The joys of a large family life are, it appears, all he needs by way of happiness and entertainment.
Nevertheless, he does sometimes talk to his daughter in Dubai by phone. "But I still can't believe how that is happening," he maintains. "I see so much technology around but I just do not understand it."
He believes that technology destroys the health of humans, which is why he shuns it.
Twelve of his children are married and have given him 30 grandchildren.
Mohammed Rahim Murad lives with four of his wives and children - a total of 45 people - in one large house. The remaining live in two other houses |
By 1996 this had grown to 38 children by four wives. The same year he had the car accident and he lost his leg. The remaining 22 children were born between 1996 and 2002, and his newborn daughter is less than one-month old.
Murad lives with four of his wives and children - a total of 45 people - in one large house in the village. The remainder live in two other houses in Ajman.
"I love all my wives and try to deal equally with them," he maintains. "If I give the wife with four children Dh1,000, then I will give the one with six children Dh1,500. I ask all my wives to accept and tolerate each other."
Of his 11 wives, one died and two went to India.
Amna, one of his wives, confirmed that he deals with them equally and is generous.
All his wives seem to be satisfied and happy. They assured that he brings them all they need and do not care if he marries again and again.
He says that even if the wives are not always on good terms, all his children love each other.
Many of his children go to school. Some of them are the same age and are in the same class.
Khalfan and Iman, two his children, say with a shy smile that they love all their mothers and all their brothers and sisters.
Murad lives on an army pension, and also gets support from some UAE charity organisations.
He believes that with the birth of each child, God will give him.
"I try my best to protect my children from doing wrong or getting into trouble. I send them to schools and I pray to God that all of them follow the right way in life." he says.
The way to live a healthy life is to stay away from technology, he maintains.
He eats only fresh meat, honey, milk and wheat from his farm.
He also eats plenty of watercress, which he believes raises fertility. He eats also cooked yogurt, and his favourite food is fish and sparrow meat.
When Murad first came to Sharjah he worked as a driver, delivering small stones for paving roads in Dubai.
"I worked in Sharjah for ten years then I went to Abu Dhabi to work at Zayed Port as a driver from 1966-1969." he recalls. "Then I worked for three years at Abu Dhabi Police as a driver with Sheikh Shakhbout."
Then he settled in Dubai as a military driver for 17 years till he retired in 1996.
He does not like modern day life. Life was simple in the past and and people loved each other more, he maintains. He admires Bedouin life.
"I am the son of the UAE. I love this country where I live and work." he says.
When he first decided to marry he was looking for a woman who would be like his mother - a generation that was hardworking and strong. Women who can take care of their families and "stand like a man".
He believes in the old tradition that the more children you have, you will be healthier, wealthier and stronger, and he says that sometimes he wakes up at night and he cries, thanking Allah for what he has given him.
He urges all national men not to marry foreigners.