Fatima Mahabud Malib

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Fertility rates are declining at a drastic rate. Emiratis have never had so few children – 2.3 per family at the last count.Two men, however, are doing their best to reverse the trend. And while father-of-52 Salem Juma’a, in his late 70s, will probably stop there, 60-year-old Daad Abdulrahman has 86 and says he is aiming for 100.

“It’s from God,” says Mr Juma’a. “God gave me this. I can’t object to God’s gift. God gave me because I deserved it. If I did not deserve, God would not give.”

In the family sitting room, Mr Juma’a is surrounded by a small part of his family: two wives, two daughters, five sons and a grandchild. Over the next two hours, dozens of his children enter the room, kiss him on the head and then greet their mothers.