Following are excerpts from a program about the strongest man in Egypt and his wives, which aired on Al-Mihwar TV on August 7, 2007.
Reporter: This is the "Incredible Hulk" or the Samson of our times. He got married 28 times and has fathered 35 sons and daughters. The eldest, Sameh, is 24 years old, while the youngest, Sayyed, is only three. Medical tests have proven that his strength equals 260 horsepower. He can bend a metal coin with his eye socket or his tongue. Then he breaks it in two with his bare hands. Sayyed Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah is a gifted man.
Allah has bestowed upon him great strength, but he uses it only to do good. This is a man on whom Allah has bestowed the strength of 30,000 men, or 260 horsepower. Allah has also blessed him with a faithful and humble heart, as well as good values and self-restraint.
[...]
Interviewer: We welcome Sayyed Muhammad, his wife, Mrs. Sabah Zaki, and Mrs. Rida Seif, who is also his wife.
Interviewer 2: We have a lot of questions...
Interviewer: There are two other wives, who are not here with us – one is in Cairo, and the other is where?
Sayyed Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah: In Upper Egypt.
Interviewer: Where do Sabah and Rida live? In Alexandria?
Abdallah: Yes.
[...]
Abdallah: This extraordinary strength is a gift from God. I try to conceal it. I don't like to display it. I don't want people to be afraid of me, or feel bad because I am strong and they are not. I went back to live in [Upper Egypt], because I have a medical exemption from working in the public and private sectors. I am not allowed to work.
Interviewer: Why?
Abdallah: Because of my exceptional strength. If I worked in a company, the boss would not be able to deal with me.
Interviewer: Are you a bad person? Would you beat him?
Abdallah: No, my strength prevents me from working. I can be a good person, but the person I am working with might not be. He might provoke me, and I might hurt him. That's why I have a medical report preventing me from working.
Interviewer 2: In addition, you must not enter a police station or jail.
Abdallah: Right.
Interviewer: Have you ever been in jail?
Abdallah: Yes, but the president gave me a pardon.
Interviewer: Why were you in jail?
Abdallah: Because of the army.
Interviewer: You were a deserter?
Abdallah: Yes, I didn't want to join the army. It was a precaution so I wouldn’t hurt anyone.
.[...]
Interviewer 2: As for marriage, let's speak openly. You have great virility and sexual appetite...
Abdallah: I must have sex with my wives 15 times. It's all in the medical report.
Interviewer 2: You have sex 15 times with your wives?
Abdallah: Yes.
Interviewer 2: Every day?!
Abdallah: Yes. Every day.
Interviewer 2: How is that possible?!
Abdallah: There is no god but Allah...
Interviewer 2: And Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. It's a gift from God...
Abdallah: Yes, Allah be praised...
Interviewer 2: What about your wives? Is this acceptable... Are they capable of...?
Abdallah: That's why I keep four wives. Why did I marry four wives? If I had married only one or two, it wouldn't work.
Interviewer: If you don't mind, let's talk a little with Mrs. Sabah and. Mrs. Rida. Welcome.
Sabah Zaki and Rida Seif: Thank you.
Interviewer: Are you happy living like this? There are no problems, no beatings? You accept this situation?
Sabah and Rida: Allah be praised.
[...]
Interviewer: Who can possibly raise 35 children, God bless them all?
Abdallah: God made this happen.
Interviewer 2: Is it true that you never sleep?
Abdallah: I haven't slept since the day I was born.
[...]
Abdallah: My father also had extraordinary strength. I got it from him. My strength equals 260 horsepower, but my dad's strength was 840 horsepower.
Interviewer 2: How do you know that you have 260 horsepower?
Abdallah: They said so at the hospital.
Interviewer 2: Really?
Abdallah: Yes, they took a sample from here and another sample from the spine. Human strength comes from here and from the spine.
Interviewer 2: 260 horsepower is...
Abdallah: I'm talking mechanical horsepower... Mechanical horsepower measures the strength of human beings. A regular human being doesn’t even come close to one horsepower.
Interviewer 2: If I had been tested, how much horsepower would I be?
Abdallah: Not even one
Interviewer: You don't get even a single horsepower...
Interviewer 2: You are making me really disappointed with myself. You are causing me mental distress.
Abdallah: I asked their top doctor how strong a regular human being is, and he said a regular human does not even come near one horsepower. One horsepower equals the strength of 360 men in excellent shape – not people with diabetes or high blood pressure.
Interviewer: I'm sure you've tried to lift big rocks...
Abdallah: Who would I lift rocks for? Who would say to me: Come work for me lifting rocks?
Interviewer: I didn't mean for work. It says here that you can lift a truck, for example.
Abdallah: Yes, that's one example. Allah be praised. There is no god but Allah.
Interviewer 2: And Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. By the way, we were told you refused to lift a car before coming here, because you were afraid that you would have a burst of energy.
Abdallah: When I get such bursts of energy, I cannot control myself. I might break everything in front of me to pieces.
Interviewer: How come? When our reporter Dunya told me about this, I didn't quite get it.
Abdallah: With all due respect, when a regular person gets angry, his behavior changes. Even when a regular person without any extraordinary strength gets angry, his behavior changes, and he might hurt somebody. When this burst of energy comes, I cannot control myself.
Interviewer: Even without being angry?
Abdallah: No, there is a vein in the spine... This is how God wanted it to be...
Interviewer 2: When I offered you my hand, you didn't shake it.
Abdallah: I don’t shake hands.
Interviewer 2: What would happen if you did?
Abdallah: Your fingers would break for sure.
Interviewer 2: You can easily break a coin. Stay there, I can see well from here... He took a coin and broke it into two. He can do this with his eye socket. You bent it with your eye.
Abdallah: Yes.
Interviewer: And this wasn't painful or anything?
Abdallah: This is the most difficult thing. It's easier to pull a train than to do this.
[...]
Interviewer 2: Let's ask the wives what this man eats. They say he doesn't sleep. What happens if you want to go to sleep?
Abdallah: That's why I have four wives. If one is tired, I go to the next. That's why I am married to four wives. I divide my time between them.
Interviewer 2: So you move from one to the other.
Abdallah: Of course.
Interviewer: Let's turn to the victims... Mrs. Sabah, what does he eat? Are there specific things he eats? Things he doesn’t like? Things he needs to eat?
Sabah: Yes, he likes to eat meat. He doesn't like ready-made or seasoned foods.
Abdallah: I drink melted butter, and I eat raw mutton.
Interviewer: Do you feel that this gives you extra strength?
Abdallah: A regular human being cannot drink melted butter or eat raw mutton. If he does, he might get sick and die. This is about strength, not about food.
Interviewer: Strength?
Abdallah: Yes, drinking butter gives me strength.
[...]
Interviewer 2: Let's return to the issue of sex. 15 times a day?!
Abdallah: Allah willing.
Interviewer 2: And you have time, or what?
Abdallah: Yes, I have the time.