Jakarta Post | 26 August 2016

After six years of waiting, Suwito, an oil palm businessman from North Labuhan Batu regency, North Sumatra, finally left his house on Wednesday to go on the haj.

His happiness was multiplied as he was accompanied by his wives.

Suwito and his three wives are listed in Group 13 along with other haj pilgrims from the regency.

The group of 215 people arrived at the haj dormitory in Medan on Wednesday morning. Upon arrival, they underwent health checks before their departure to Mecca from Kualanamu International Airport, slated for early Thursday.

Suwito was excited that he could finally go on the haj with his three wives. The 63-year-old thanked God for his health and strength.

“Praise God, I can finally go on the haj with my wives. This is an extraordinary happiness,” Suwito told The Jakarta Post in Medan.

For Suwito, this will be his first time going on the haj.

He said his second wife Sutiasni invited him to go on the haj with her in 2002. But Suwito refused, saying he was unprepared for the spiritual journey considering that, at the time, he often committed acts such as drinking liquor, using drugs and womanizing.

“I was still dirty back then. I was unprepared for the haj. Still, I pushed my wife to go on the haj,” he said, adding that his other wives had not gone either because he did not.

According to Suwito, all of his wives knew what he did in the past. However, they were never angry at him or reported his acts to the police, which made Suwito feel ashamed.

“I quit using drugs and womanizing in 2006 and only stopped drinking tuak [traditional liquor] in 2015,” he said.

In 2010, four years after he quit using drugs and womanizing, he and his three wives applied for the haj and were registered on the haj waiting list. Suwito also registered his fourth wife, Susiati. However, she fled the house without a trace before the haj payment was completed.

Although Susiati did not join them for the haj this year, Suwito took her and his other wives on umrah (the minor haj) in 2012.

Suwito’s wives are Royati, 58, Sutiasni, 50, Indrawati, 48, and Susiati, 40. He has one child with Royati, two with Sutiasni, two with Indrawati and one from Susiati.

Suwito was born to Sukardi and Ginah, who faced economic challenges. He married Royati in 1974 when he was an ice seller. He married his second wife in 1985 and his third wife four years later. By that time, he had opened a restaurant.

“Since marrying his third wife, my business has expanded. I spent the profits investing in oil palm and rubber plantations,” said Suwito, who is now a successful businessman with a 30-hectare oil palm plantation and 7-ha rubber plantation.

Royati said she was happy to remain by Suwito’s side, saying she could accept that he had married other women.

“I could accept that because he asked me for permission before marrying other women,” Royati said.

She said Suwito had married six women altogether. However, he divorced two of them and Susiati had fled. “Now, he has three wives,” Royati said, adding that there were never problems between the three.

They live in separate houses close to each other in West Ledong, Asahan regency.

“We have good communications. We are solid,” Royati said, adding that she had asked Suwito to go on the haj with all of his wives.

Third wife Indrawati, meanwhile, said she was grateful to have a husband like Suwito, who treated his wives fairly. “I am happy to have him,” she said.

On his farewell Hajj, the Prophet Muhammad SAW was accompanied by all his honourable wives. Islam permits polygamy but specifies that it is adopted with morality, and that all co-wives be treated equally.