“God sent her to me,” said a couple who have been married for 91 years and have 64 grandchildren.
Zechariah and Shama’a experienced hardships that no one should ever have to go through. The fact that they are still in love almost a century later is even more astonishing considering the difficulties they endured while maintaining their relationship for 91 years.
Zechariah and Shama’a experienced hardships that no one should ever have to go through.
They remained together for 91 years in spite of all their difficulties.
They are still in love almost a century later, which is even more incredible.
Zechariah and Shama’a were both left motherless after becoming orphans as young children.
“We were both orphans growing up. He and I both lacked mothers, Shama’a told BBC.
So, they were married off at a very young age, as was customary for most orphans in Yemen.
Shama’a was 10 and Zechariah was 12.
This was done in order to increase their chances of remaining within the Jewish community and avoiding getting married to non-Jews.
Sadly, child marriage continues to take place in Yemen today.
According to the Borgen Project, there was no minimum age for marriage in Yemen as of 2022.
With the justification that it is “un-Islamic,” the Sharia Legislative Committee has consistently rejected attempts to raise the marriage age to 17 and above.
Yemen was the source of reports in 2020 of minors as young as 12 getting married.
They had no other support save each other while being coerced into marriage by individuals who weren’t their parents.
“We never licked honey in real life. Shamaa told the BBC, “We suffered. “No pain was worse than what we had gone through. Nothing exists.
The married couple and children were left on their own.
Shama’a said, “We lived in a donkey’s barn that we cleaned because we had no house.”
They stayed alive by clearing up the barn where they slept.
They went to Israel when they were in their mid- to late-20s, when the country was created, after being allowed to flee Yemen in 1948 to avoid the persecution of Jews.
In Israel, they started a family, giving birth to 11 kids.
64 grandchildren and great-grandchildren in total are theirs.
One, two, three. The number is fast slipping my mind. The number was great,” Zechariah stated.
In his opinion, getting married to his wife was a huge blessing.
He is appreciative of their extended family that they were able to create over the many years that they were married.
She was sent to me by God. I got her by pure luck. Like a herd of sheep, women rushed to me, but I turned none of them away, said Zechariah. Remember, I never kicked this woman out; she was my first and only wife.
At this point in the article, Shama’a had to hushe her husband.
According to her, she has enjoyed her marriage.
Together for a long time without a conflict. We’re excited to live our lives together,” she remarked.
Zechariah declares that he hopes they won’t ever have to be separated.
He said, “God protected us the whole way and allowed the two of us to die together. “May God keep you safe and grant you a happy life.”
Watch the video below to learn more about Zechariah and Shama’a’s 91-year union.
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