Salomé said:
The most important in the story is DOES Haya really add something to Dubai?
Some people keep saying that Sheikh Mohamed wanted her to be his public wife,and to give a modern image of Dubai royals,but Is that really true?Dubai is what it is,a very modern place with a very traditional society,where some 80% popualtion are not locals,and the locals prefer their local first wife Sheika Hind,and I belive that Haya won't change anything in that,considered by some the first lady or not.
It's not a question of what Haya has done for or has not done for Dubai. Her influence lies in the international realm, particularly Europe and the wider equestrian world. Sheikh Mohammed has concerns in that realm for obvious reasons. Look how much he has invested in it. You're right, I believe, in that he has other wives who are more popular and loved within dubai. He has Haya for the international stage.
As I have said before, I am not saying he does not love Haya or that I have an opinion about that. My opinion on that extends very little, that I think he and Haya are at the very least, "in like" and perhaps in love. I do think they are friends, at the least very good friends, and perhaps have a much more special, deeper bond. The advantage that she brings to the international perspective for Dubai is probably just a bonus. I have no doubts about the genuineness (is that a word?)
of their feelings for each other.
That said, I imagine he won't have anymore wives.
These forums have really changed my opinion about polygamy as practiced within the Islamic faith. Far from being on the verge of converting to Islam and becoming a wife in a polygamous marriage
I will say that I am opening up to the idea of the advantages to the Islamic polygamous traditions: The most important advantage, I feel, is that it keeps families together even after parents have grown apart or fallen out of love. There has to be something said for
adding to one's family as opposed to
subtracting from it!
However, there is a flipside, of course. Why can't it be Equal Oppurtunity? Can a wife of Sheikh Mohammed have another husband?
I doubt it, but she should be able to.