In 1965, he met Nasreena Ibrahim, a student who had just arrived in Cairo from the Maldives for her studies. She was then 15 and he was 27. Four years later, they married in Cairo, on 14 July 1969. A few weeks after his marriage, he joined Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria as a lecturer in Islamic Studies and moved there with Nasreena. On 20 March 1970, Nasreena gave birth to twins, Dhunya Maumoon and Yumna Maumoon. Nasreena went back to Malé when expecting their third child. She gave birth to their first son, Ahmed Faris Maumoon, in Malé, on 31 March 1971. Nine years later, during abdul Gayoom's presidency, a second son, Ghassan, was born on 12 June 1980.