Polygamy in Egypt

The following are excerpts from a show about polygamy in Egypt, which aired on MBC TV on July 31, 2005.

Reporter: Sameh Sayyed Mursi is married to four wives. The first is Umm Maha, the second is Umm Amira, the third is Umm Adham, and the fourth is Madame Hiba.

The four women compete among themselves who will treat Sameh the best and try to please him. Let's meet the polygamist, Sameh Sayyed Mursi. Why did Sameh marry a second wife, in addition to his first, Umm Maha?

Sameh:Because she was too jealous.

Reporter: Why did he marry a third time, after Umm Amira?

Sameh: Luck struck again, with Umm Amira. I met her and fell in love with her. She too was jealous, so I was forced to marry Umm Adham.

Reporter: And what about your fourth marriage?

Sameh: Madame Hiba is my last wife. That's fate.

Reporter: Where do the four wives live?

Sameh: I married Umm Amira, and, Allah be praised, we lived above my shop. I married Umm Adham, and I put her above the shop too. I married Hiba, and put her above the shop too.

Reporter: Can Sameh divide his feelings between his wives equally?

Sameh: Today I'm with Umm Maha, so I'm with Umm Maha. Tomorrow I will be with Umm Amira, so I will be with Umm Amira. Every day with one.

Reporter: How does Sameh describe his four wives?

Sameh: Umm Maha is jealous. Umm Amira is also very jealous. Umm Adham is my beloved, my sister, my wife, my friend, my everything. She is like one of my buddies. The last, Hiba, I also married out of love, of course.

Reporter: What about arguments and disputes?

Sameh:: When they fight with one another I don't intervene. I only intervene in the serious issues.

Reporter: What does the first wife, Umm Maha, say about Sameh's marriages?

Umm Maha: The first time he got married, I was angry and very depressed. When he married the third wife, I was happy. The fourth time, I went and asked her hand in marriage for him, and I went and got the furniture and the apartment ready for him.

Reporter: How does Umm Amira, the second wife, describe Sameh?

Umm Amira: He's a man, a man, a man. Allah be praised, I am proud of him.

Reporter: Wife No. 3, Umm Adham, says:

Umm Adham: His manliness, his manliness. He does not bend before anyone. Maybe it's his strength that makes one love him.

Reporter: We still have to hear the fourth wife, Madame Hiba.

Madame Hiba: I found great compassion in him. Everybody wants a little compassion and a kind word, a loving lap, and I found that in Sameh.

Reporter: A man who has made jealousy into a reason for serial marriages. Four wives who talk about acceptance and satisfaction from such married lives. Can jealousy be a justification for Sameh's many marriages?