Wedding Styles in India

Muslim Wedding

Muslims are very specific about their religion when they marry. Though most other cultures have changed stands and have accepted their children choosing the partners and marrying outside the family or the religion, followers of Islam are still very staunch about it and do not easily agree to marriages outside the family. In the case of the men wanting to marry outside, the women who like to get married to Muslim men, need to get converted to Islam before the marriage.

The parents of the prospective bride and groom agree to get their children married and the consent of the bridegroom is taken. Though most families are taking the consent of the brides these days, this is not a mandatory requirement. As long as the parents of the bride are fine with the arrangement, the bride goes through the wedding ceremony. In case the bride is getting married for the first time, then the marriage can be forced on her either by her parents or by other elder members in the family. The bride’s consent becomes mandatory when the bridegroom gets married a second time.

The rules of the Islamic marriage in the eyes of some tend to promote polygamy, where one man can live with many wives. Though this was the condition earlier, now with more and more women getting educated and coming out to work the situations are changing, the women are also starting to ask for equal rights in relationship. Also, as per the laws of the Islam marriage, it is very easy for a man to divorce his wife by the talak system but very difficult for the woman to come out of the marriage. This is another feature which is changing, as the men find it easier to abandon their wives and sometimes even make them consent to their unreasonable demands.

Rituals Performed in Muslim Wedding

Just like in other marriages, there are functions like the Baarat and the mehendi that are conducted in the groom’s and bride’s house respectively. The Baarat is the name given to the marriage procession comprising of the bridegroom and his party of close relatives who leave with him to the venue of the marriage. The mehendi is the art of drawing patterns in the hands and legs of the bride and the women in the bride’s place also apply mehendi in their hands. There is a female mehendi professional who comes home to decorate the hands of the bride.

As soon as the groom arrives, the brother of the bride and groom have a drink and this is the first informal family get together. The bridegroom’s family also give money to the bride’s parents and this sum is agreed upon by both the families much prior to the marriage.

The Muslim marriages generally are conducted in the night. The priest who is called a Qazi or a Maulvi conducts the marriage and keeps chanting the verses of the Quran to seek the blessings of the Almighty all through the marriage. The girl and the groom are brought to the place where the marriage will be performed and are made to sit in opposite directions. The priests firsts starts the process by stating some prayers and explains what marriage is and how the groom and the bride should live together as man and wife adding value to each other’s lives and help each other grow and how the woman should accept her husband as the all prevailing person and listen to all his commands and fulfill all of his desires and bear his progeny and establish his family.

All through the ceremony, the bride and groom don’t see each other and their heads are covered with a duppatta. Even when seated next to each other, they cannot see each other and offer their prayers and read the Quran under the advice of the Maulvi.

After these general discussions, the Qazi calls upon the elders in both sides of the family and they come forward. The Islam marriage mandates the bride and groom should sign the marriage contract and this is in Arabic. The signature of the bride can be ignored if the groom and the girl’s father or brother signs the contract. Since this leads to the bride getting married without her consent, the women are trying hard to change these rules so they have equal rights with the menfolk.

As the ceremony draws to a close, the older women offer prayers or dua for the wellbeing of the couple and the bridegroom returns their prayers with a thanks called salaam.

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