by Baz Wade
“In what way?”
“Take childminding – they can divide up that task between them – trusting each other with their children. There is also chat – women and men often prefer to discuss different things so the women are often better off chatting with other women than with men. Their monogamous sisters have a frustrating time trying to discuss girly issues with their husbands then accuse them of not paying them enough attention. It then turns into a vicious circle. In case you think defending polygamy is groundbreaking stuff, it’s worth noting the greatest polygamist was Abraham, the Biblical patriarch who is revered by Muslims as well as Christians and Jews, in the latter case for thousands of years.”
Sheikh had managed to reduce the meeting to silence – after a pause lasting several seconds, Gibbs said “Okay, give it a go – I dare say it will increase circulation initially even if it doesn’t change anyone’s mind – just don’t ask me to support stoning,” continued Gibbs.
“Stoning’s a good example of where the modern Islamist radicals have distorted and brutalised what went before – someone’s recently carried out a study of Ottoman legal history over five centuries and there’s only one stoning to death recorded. Okay, we’ll try our readership with polygamy for a couple of days then consider other proposals like opposition to gay marriage and the public flogging of football hooligans.”
“Yes – one thing at a time I reckon,” chortled Gibbs.
Over the next three weeks the Sun’s current affairs editor, Harry Bennett, and Laura Bradford, the women’s issues editor, combined forces to get the lowdown on the current state of polygamy in Britain and internationally.
At the end of the two-week period, they had a meeting with Sheikh and Gibbs to discuss progress.
“Well we seem to have established that informal polygamy is more popular and widespread in Britain today than you might imagine,” said Harry.
“Let me explain,” said Laura. “For a start, many of the baby boomers, now in their 60s, were hippies and/or influenced by 1960s libertarian ideas, so many of them have been informal polygamists for over 40 years.”
“Yes, but it goes back much further than that,” suggested Harry. “Henry the Eighth was probably the most famous English polygamist.”
“True,” said Laura. “We must not forget the Bloomsbury group in the 20s who lived in squares and loved in triangles.”
“Yes, that’s all very interesting,” said Sheikh, “but what about formal polygamy with a man and his wives living under the same roof?”
“As you probably know,” continued Harry “the Koran permits a man to marry up to four wives.”
“But a woman may only take one husband,” commented Laura.
“We reckon that’s related to the importance of determining who the biological parents are of any given child,” suggested Harry. “Obviously if a woman is having sex with more than one man, she’s never going to know who the father is in relation to any given child – like in the film Mamma Mia. This problem doesn’t arise when a man is having sex with several wives – barring infidelity, you are always going to know who every child’s biological parents are.
Apparently, in Britain there is a reluctance on the part of Muslims to admit to being in a formal polygamous relationship as bigamy is a crime under British law.” Harry continued “However, what many of them don’t realise is that the traditional Muslim wedding, the Nikah, on its own, is not recognised as a legal marriage under UK law. So the would be polygamists who don’t know this are worrying about nothing!”
“We commissioned Cyclops, the opinion pollsters, to carry out a survey on the issue of acceptance of polygamy,” Laura continued. “The two main questions were what are the drawbacks to polygamy? And if polygamous marriages can be shown to be more stable (ie less likely to end in divorce), would you support its legalisation? On the drawbacks issue, the main problem was the welfare of women – polygamy was thought to be too man centred – a charter for randy and chauvinistic males, if you like—”
“And responses on the second question – about legalisation?” asked Sheikh.
“Ninety per cent of Asians said yes, as did sixty five per cent of the rest of the population,” responded Laura.
“Interesting,” said Sheikh – “the drawbacks points are debatable – my mother always said my grandfather’s wives were all very happy.”
“Well there is a paradox that people in the West don’t generally know about,” said Harry.
“What’s that?” asked Sheikh.
“In a 2005 joint study by the Social Sciences department of Karachi University and the Health Sciences department of the University of Lahore,” Laura continued, “it was found that where a husband had two wives, each wife had more sex than their monogamous sisters. Where a husband had three wives, they each had about the same amount of sex as their monogamous sisters. The psychologists put this down to the happier state of mind of the husband, increasing his libido. It was only when a fourth wife arrived that the husband’s performance started flagging.”
“Okay, let’s run with it,” said Sheikh, “call the article Pros and Cons of Polygamy – can Everybody be Happier? – something like that, we’ll see what our readers make of it.”
Over the next few months other issues were raised in the paper, gay marriage, paedophiles, public flogging of football hooligans – each article carefully recorded the Muslim viewpoint which, with the assistance of the Cyclops pollsters, was shown to coincide with majority opinion in the non-Muslim population.
The articles also included at least one on Islamic finance and banking. The point was made that Islamic Banks followed a policy of investing on a partnership basis with customers rather than lending or charging interest – and that such a policy was fairer and less likely to lead to financial meltdowns requiring bailouts as had occurred all too often in the West.
Towards the end of Karim’s first year at SOAS, Hassan set up a lunch meeting with Karim at Hassan’s flat in Cadogan Square, Belgravia.
On arrival, Karim was embraced heartily by his grandfather who was still spritely, despite now being in his 80s.
“How are you? Do you like London? Have you got a girlfriend yet?”
“Steady on Granddad – too many questions at once – one at a time please.”
“Well they say you don’t drink – that’s good. How about food – I assume you eat?”
Karim nodded.
“Fine – I’ve got some proper Moroccan food from the restaurant round the corner, it’s tajine and couscous followed by peaches and apricots.”
“Great – Mum often cooks tajine back home – I’m feeling hungry just thinking about it.”
“Good, let’s get started. It’s all laid out in the dining room – let’s go through. My staff have the rest of the day off, so we’ve got the place to ourselves.”
The two settled down at the large dining room table and started to eat – in Karim’s case as though he’d not eaten for a week.
“Fine – you seem hungry,” said Hassan. “Doesn’t anyone feed you?”
“Yes, Kirsty my girlfriend is a very good cook – she does some traditional Scottish dishes like haggis and neeps.”
“This Kirsty, where did you meet her?”
“One of the fresher dos – she’s doing music at King’s and we’re in a band.”
“What a brass band?”
Karim knew when he was being teased but let it go.
“No, a soft rock band, if you like, we do all sorts of music, blues, rock, folk – protest.”
“Protest eh – what are you protesting about?”
“Injustices mainly.”
“What injustices?”
“Poverty, pollution, the Palestinian issue…”
“Sounds like you’ve inherited some of Caroline’s indignation – so what are your answers to these problems?”
<
br /> “Persuasion and politics hopefully – I’m not a Jihadi.”
“I’m glad to hear it – what’s Kirsty’s view on these matters?”
“We both tend to agree on political matters, though we have slightly different priorities – she’s more interested in green and Scottish issues rather than the Middle East, for example.”
There was then a pause while Hassan contemplated what had been said.
“I think I can help you, but probably not until you graduate when you’re 21,” said Hassan.
“In what way?”
“I know Andy Sheikh quite well and I know he would be interested in your views, particularly when he knows you’re my grandson.”
“Andy Sheikh – he’s the proprietor of The Sun isn’t he?”
“Yes that’s right – he would I am sure like to meet you and get hold of some background information to get the interest of his readers. Eventually he could also introduce you to some useful contacts, I’m sure – politicians, media people and so on.”
“That sounds good – what do I have to do?”
“Well, to really get his attention you’d have to admit to being Ali and Caroline’s son – I can tell him I’m your grandfather and he can put two and two together – I’m sure he’d like to hear it from you as well though, about your upbringing etc. However, I would keep this under wraps until you’re 21 in the year you graduate, otherwise it is likely to disrupt your life as a student and attract the wrong kind of attention. For the time being concentrate on your studies and having a good time while you can – that’s my advice.
I can introduce you socially here on the understanding he will just chat and leave you alone until you’ve graduated – would that suit you?”
“I’ll need to chat it through with Kirsty, but it sounds a good idea to me.”
“Fine. Additionally there’s a letter from Caroline to Richard that I need to show you to give you an idea of her wishes and plans, if you like, for the two of you.”
“A letter? Written when?”
“Written about 6 months before you were born when she was in hiding in Morocco, staying with a friend of mine.”
“Why was she in hiding?”
“Because the Press were constantly harassing her and because we thought the car crash was quite probably a deliberate attempt to kill both Caroline and my son – your father, and that it was made to look like an accident.”
“Does that mean I will be in danger when I admit to being their son?”
“Possibly – you can have a bodyguard if you like but Sheikh is a powerful media mogul and once you are under his wing, then your would-be enemies are likely to back off – up to a point.”
“I don’t want a bodyguard. I’ll take my chances. So what’s in this letter – can I read it?”
“Yes, I’ve got a copy, I’ll get it.”
“When was it sent?”
Hassan didn’t answer.
He returned a couple of minutes later with a photocopy of Caroline’s letter.
“Have a read of this.”
Darling R
I have been advised my life is in danger, which is why I have gone to ground, ably protected by Rod, who has been very attentive and understanding – a hero, in fact.
I am now 3 months pregnant and have a strong feeling the baby will be a boy, in which case my greatest wish is that you and he should be friends, particularly if anything happens to me.
I intend to call him Karim, which is Ali’s grandfather’s name – they were very close.
I realise your father will probably try and prevent this, particularly as Karim will have been brought up a Muslim.
I hope and pray you do not end up enemies – blood is thicker than water, as they say.
I will try and write again soon –
God bless
Fondest love
Mummy”
“That’s fine” said Karim. “I wish she’d written me a letter, even if it only said the weather’s fine today…”
“She created a Trust with you as main beneficiary and me as Trustee, so she provided for you,” said Hassan.
“By the way, when did you send the letter to Richard?”
“I’ve not yet sent it.”
“What?!”
“Timing is everything and I thought I would send it after consulting with you and Sheikh – if it’s sent to coincide maybe with an article by or about you in Sheikh’s paper, then it’s going to have more relevance. If I send it too early it may just create a problem for you.”
“I see – so it’s going to take around 20 years for this letter to be delivered to Richard…”
“Maybe, but I’ve already turned this over a thousand times in my mind, and there’s no easy answer to this type of question. I promised Caroline I would get the letter to Richard, I didn’t say how or when. I’ll speak to Sheikh about it – I’ll also arrange a lunch with Sheikh so I can introduce you.”
“Okay, but I would want to bring Kirsty. There are no secrets between us.”
“Fine. I don’t think Sheikh or I will have a problem with that.”
Three weeks later Hassan, Sheikh, Karim and Kirsty meet at Hassan’s flat.
After the initial meeting and greeting, Sheikh opened the conversation:
“I was a great admirer of your late mother. We would like to go public with a story about you after you have graduated. Please be aware this will be a scoop, a world exclusive, and we need to all agree now that all the details, including this discussion, must remain private and confidential between the four of us for the time being – is that agreed?”
Everyone present nodded in agreement.
“I don’t want to appear tactless, but what about payment?” asked Kirsty.
“No, you’re absolutely right to ask, remuneration will be substantial,” said Sheikh.
“I’m suggesting it goes into the family trust fund with, say, twenty per cent into a charity,” remarked Hassan.
“Yes, Grandad can handle that side for us – he’s the businessman,” said Karim.
“On the political side, I can introduce you to many people from a wide spectrum who will be fascinated to meet you,” continued Sheikh.
“First things first, we need to agree on when to send Caroline’s letter,” said Hassan.
“Yes you told me about the letter – perhaps I could have a look at it before I contribute to this discussion further.”
Hassan produced the copy letter and handed it over – Sheikh had seen the letter many years previously as part of the process of verifying Hassan’s story about Karim’s birth, but Sheikh and Hassan, for now, had agreed not to disclose anything about their deal to Karim for fear of him getting the wrong idea. It was better for everyone if Karim took decisions about his own future with Hassan and Sheikh’s advice – if his decisions happened to coincide with what Hassan had had in mind all along, then fine.
Sheikh refreshed his memory by reading Caroline’s letter again.
“I’ve still not sent it – I was thinking I’d send it to coincide with the first article about Karim in The Sun.”
“How do you make sure he gets it?” asked Karim.
“Send the original ‘Special Delivery’ post and also send a copy first class in case he refuses to sign for the original – that’s how my lawyers deal with this kind of problem,” suggested Sheikh.
“My own lawyer can arrange to send the original, he’s totally discreet and trustworthy,” said Hassan.
“I’m desperate to meet Richard face-to-face,” said Karim. “I just hope this is the best way of achieving that ambition.”
“The wishes of your mother are clearly expressed – it will be difficult for Richard to ignore that,” said Hassan. “I think we are agreed, are we not, that we send the letter to arrive just after the first articl
e in The Sun?”
“That’s fine by me,” replied Karim.
“Can you please tell me about your upbringing? Our readers will be fascinated.”
“Let’s discuss this over lunch – there’s a smoked salmon salad in the dining room,” suggested Hassan.
Over lunch Karim spoke about his adoptive parents with great affection and gratitude, and about his life in Dubai as a child and teenager.
“Did they talk much about your natural parents?” asked Sheikh.
“Occasionally – when I was about three they told me I was adopted but that they loved me very much.” When Karim said this, he could feel the tears welling up – Kirsty noticed and put her hand on his arm, reassuringly. Karim passed on as quickly as possible to the occasion when Mari had told him his parents were famous and who they were. He must have been about thirteen at the time he recalled.
He said he remembered spending a couple of hours on the internet looking up the details. Partly as a result, he later developed a keen interest in history and current affairs.
“Fascinating,” said Sheikh, “truly fascinating.”
Karim continued by describing his life as a sixth former, his work experience in Tom’s office and why he had chosen SOAS in which to continue his studies. When he had finished, Sheikh gently clapped his hands a few times and said:
“Well done, Karim, I think you have shown great resilience and courage to get this far – I hope I can help you go further. May I say I have many of your views about politics, particularly regarding Islam and the Middle East – also you have your mother’s charisma, I can see that, and that makes your view of the world all the more compelling.”
As the months went by, Karim concentrated on working hard on his academic studies and playing hard, mainly in his band – he realised he may never again have the opportunities that his lifestyle gave him as an anonymous student in London.
On several occasions he met with Sheikh again in Hassan’s flat.