Chapter 3: The 2nd Wife

My father has always wanted a second wife, ever since he became Muslim. My mother had went through the agony several times before this time in Egypt, but it seems it was now real. My father met his second wife through a terrible situation that was extremely disturbing to many.

My father's American Muslim friend, Mahmood, was looking to get married to an Egyptian woman. My father, supposedly a good friend, accompanied Mahmood to meet prospective wives and their Mahaarim (plural of Mahram, which is a male relative that a woman cannot marry and who usually accompanies her on travels and approves who she can marry). One day, they met a woman in a distant city so Mahmood could meet her and talk to her. This woman, Maha, had taken my father's phone number as well, as he was also involved in the marriage. One day, Maha calls my dad with the reasoning that she is calling to ask about Mahmood and get more information about him from a third person view. They talked, and talked. They talked for hours and she called again the next day. She called often and they talked for hours, sometimes past midnight. This was utterly offensive to my mother and us as his children, at it was even more excruciating as he spoke in Arabic with Maha, which my mother did not speak. 

The conversations went from Mahmood and his manners, to what books they are reading. My father and Maha progressed to meet to "exchange Islamic books." After the hours of talking and meeting, they decided to marry and Mahmood was out of the picture. 

This time was a very difficult time of seeing my father gone a lot, to my dear mother crying often. It was one of the worst times of our lives.

Lesson Learned: The devil can use good things like God's laws to make you do bad things. This is one of the most deceitful methods of Satan. When he uses a good thing, it is more difficult to sense the evil in it and it ends up twisting into something very wrong. Beware!