Unlike most marriage proposals, in the Muslim religion it is the woman who will approach her intended to ask for his hand, usually through her father or a male relative. Muslims reject the idea of collusion and believe that the couple must agree to marry of their own free will. As enlightened as this sounds however, the women do have limitations - they are required to marry only Muslim men, whereas the men are free to choose a bride from another faith or culture, on condition that their children are raised as Muslims.

After accepting an offer of marriage, the groom will give his bride-to-be a gift or mahr, which may be jewellery, property or even an education. This may occur when the groom is better educated than his bride, to offer her better opportunities in life. Unless the marriage breaks down before it is consummated, the mahr remains the bride`s to do with as she pleases.At the actual wedding, both the couple and their guests are separated by gender, either by being grouped in separate rooms, or in different parts of the hall where the marriage is taking place, according to the requirement of the Muslim faith. (In some Western ceremonies this may not apply.) This tradition makes the Muslim marriage quite unique in that the bride is not actually present at the time of union. Her representative or wali takes her place, while the groom represents himself. The proposal having been accepted and the gift agreed upon, all the officiator at these ceremonies requires is to be convinced that the couple is marrying of free will, and once he is, they are pronounced man and wife. The entire ceremony is extremely simple and takes a mere few minutes.

Not given to open displays of affection, the guests will refrain from kissing the happy couple after the ceremony, and the celebration that follows will generally be fairly sedate. Although many of these practices do not endure in the Western world where tradition and modern ceremonies are combined, the spirit of the religion remains.

These widely diverse traditions all have one thing in common, the wonderful practice of providing a supportive base from which the newlyweds begin the journey through life as a couple. Indeed, that support and affirmation of one`s identity offers a magnificent beginning to many a marriage union, and is a practice that will endure just as long as men and women continue to share their lives as couples.

Article source: LifeWorld