Tag Archives: muslim wedding customs

Muslim Wedding 101 – Everything You Must Know About a Nikaah

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In Muslim matrimony, traditions dictate the steps that must be followed until the big day arrives.

Muslim weddings consist of celebrations of several days in which the bride is the true protagonist of the event. Muslim weddings include rooms full of bright colors, fresh flowers to honor the future couple and a lot of traditions. If this season, you are going to attend your first Muslim wedding and want to go there fully informed, here is the simplest guide to avoid surprises!

Muslim weddings are celebrated in a mosque before the Imam. The tradition, extended to other cultures and religions, indicates that all preparations of the bride on the day of the wedding, such as dress or accessories, should not be seen by the groom before the wedding ceremony, as it brings bad luck. This religion allows men to marry Christian or Jewish women because they represent people who have a sacred book, but instead, Muslim women should not marry someone who does not belong to their religion.

The marriage contract must be certified by the groom and his guardian named Wali. In the official act of marriage, in which religious scriptures are read (as in most ceremonies), the Wali pronounces a few words dedicated to the couple. As in other religions, all the provisions and laws (including those of the marriage) are found in the holy book, Quran.

In the Muslim religion, it is allowed to have more than one wife, although the most common practice is to have only one wife. The same thing happens with the negotiation of marriage. Formerly, it was customary that two men, the fiancé and a male relative close to the bride (father or brothers), closed the marriage agreement. However today, it is something agreed to between the couple.

The traditional dowry is far from what we are used to believing. It is interpreted to be a gift from the groom’s family to the bride’s when in reality, it is a gift from the future husband to his wife, such as, the engagement ring, earrings or the house in which they will live in once married to start with their matrimonial life.

The couple presents themselves with three witnesses before the “sheik,” a type of Islamic magistrate, to perform the marriage contract. Under Islamic law, at that time, the couple is legally and spiritually united, although the wedding ceremony has not yet been held. Therefore, the bride returns to her house to plan the celebration, which is usually carried out one or two weeks later. A Muslim wedding usually lasts three days to a week and is usually celebrated in the home of one of the parties, or as in other religions, in public places such as hotels, farms, etc.

The first night is a celebration only for the women. The bride dresses with a kaftan, and her hands and feet are marked with henna to ward off the evil spirits. Each symbol has a meaning allusive to women and men. In addition, the bride also enjoys a Hammam, a relaxing bath with steam to purify herself. That night, the bride is escorted by the women with candles, incense, songs and dances that allude to her beauty. The mother-in-law of the bride gives her a tray with keys, bread, and milk. The keys represent the welcome to the family and the food signify the abundance. A Muslim wedding symbolizes the union of families more than that of the bride and groom. Hence, the importance of giving gifts to families is self-explanatory.

From the second night, the party begins to which family and friends are invited. In all the celebrations, there is a rich Muslim tradition and its beautiful folklore in which the bride and groom take the place of honor at the banquet.

Now that you know the Muslim customs and all the ancestral mystery that they entail, you only need to let yourself be carried away by their spell and enjoy the wedding! If you are also looking for a Muslim bride or groom for yourself, try your luck at Muslim matrimonial sites or Muslim matrimony sites. If lucky, finding your soulmate through these matrimonial sites could be a cake walk!

Traditional Attire of an Indian Muslim Bride!

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The wedding is a remarkable event of an individual’s life and many dreams are weaved for this special day. The bride and the groom wish to look their best and presentable on this special day. Months before the wedding date, immense shopping and preparations are done by both the families.

There is traditional wedding attire for the brides and the grooms of different religions, regions, and culture. In same religion, regional and cultural differences impact the dressing culture for the event.

Matrimony event marks a beginning of a new life with a life partner, who vows to stand by each other and love is the binding factor of this beautiful relationship. Online matrimonial sites offer exclusive search for best bride and groom with affirmed background check.

3 Different Bridal Attire for 3 Important Functions of a Muslim Wedding

The Indian Islamic bridal costumes are of bright and colorful hues with magnificent embroidery with gold and silver colored threads, zari work, shimmer work, brocade, and stonework. The green color is considered the auspicious color in Islam. The main emphasis of the Bridal costume is that it should be decent, covering almost all the body with modest necklines and bride’s face and hands should only be visible to the public.

1. Bridal Costume for Mehendi

The wedding kicks off with the elaborate Mehendi ceremony. The Mehendi is a customary consent from both the parties agreeing for matrimony alliance, which is known as Nikaah in Islam. The bridal attire for this function is preferable of yellow color matching with the colors of henna. The bride can wear heavy work saree, bridal shalwar-kameez, and heavy embellished lehenga blouse for the occasion. A dupatta or a drape matching or contrasting with the costume is a must with all bridal outfits to cover the head of the bride, either partially or fully as per the family tradition. Jewelry is not an important accessory for this event. The brides prefer light jewelry of gold, pearls, precious stones or floral jewelry as per the choice of the bride or her family.

2. Bridal Costume for Nikaah

Nikaah is the main matrimonial event in Islamic wedding wherein both the parties gather together and the groom and the bride agree to the marriage.

The bridal outfit of Nikaah ceremony is bright and colorful with heavy golden work and the preferred color is bright red. Normally, it is bright red ghaagra, long pleated skirt with a long sleeve blouse and a flowing dupatta matching with the outfit. Heavy golden jewelry with intricate designs complements with the bridal outfit. The dupatta is hung low over the bowed head and draped around her shoulders and waist and it should be so draped that her gold jewelry is visible to the onlookers. The dupatta acts as a veil and it is considered as a mark of respect to elders. The Muslim bridal dupatta comes in different types of work and design and it is an integral piece of a bridal outfit. The nose pin in the right side of the nose is must for a married Muslim woman. The Jhoomar or Pasa is the key jewelry which identifies a Muslim Bride. The bride appears to be the cynosure of all eyes and her heavy and beautiful bridal attire adds beauty to her personality.

3. Bridal Costume for Valima

Valima is hosted by the groom’s family to welcome the bride and signifies the consummation of Nikaah. The guests and the family gather together for the feast and to have a glimpse of the newlywed bride. The bride is dressed in her best bright hued outfit. The bridal attire is generally presented by the bride’s Mother-in-law and her choice plays a role in her costume for Valima. In many regions, set of clothing and jewelry is gifted by mom-in-law to her daughter-in-law. The attire for this occasion can be heavy sarees, flowing lehengas with long sleeves blouses and dupatta or ghaagra. The preferred colors are bright red, dark pink, green, deep mauve etc. and heavy gold and silver jewelry studded with precious stones.

Islam connotes a veil or purdah system and their emphasis is more on the way the dupatta is draped over the head and the shoulders of the bride and female fraternity of Islam.

India is known for colorful outfits and Indian Islamic wedding is no exception. The bright colors and gold, silver and pearl jewelry play an important role in weddings. Visit LoveVivah’s muslim matrimony to access the different aspects associated with muslim weddings and find a perfect Muslim Bride or groom..

Muslim Wedding Rituals: Sacred and Mesmerizing

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Muslim Wedding Rituals

Muslim wedding rituals are very sacred and colorful. If you got any chance to attend any Muslim wedding, you will realize that their wedding rituals are very simple yet elegant. They call their wedding as Nikah. It is an urdu word. The wedding rituals of Muslim matrimony may differ from region-to-region. We are here sharing some sacred rituals of Muslim wedding/Nikah to know it more closely.

Istikhara ritual: This is one of the most important wedding rituals for Muslim community. During this wedding ritual, the religious heads of the Muslim community come together to pray to Allah to seek his blessing to commence the wedding rituals.

Imam-zamin ritual: In this sacred ritual, the groom’s mother visits the bride’s house. The groom’s mother offer some gifts to Muslim bride before marriage like silver or gold coin wrapped in silk cloth, sweets, clothes and some other gifts. She ties that cloth with coin around bride’s hand.

Mangni: This ceremony is also known as engagement in Muslim matrimony. During this ceremony, the Muslim groom and bride exchange rings. Both the families also exchange gifts, fruits, dry fruits and sweets. This is one of the most important ceremonies.

Manjha ritual: In this ritual, the bride-to-be wear yellow clothes and a paste made out of haldi is applied on to her face and body of the would-be-bride and groom. After the Manjha ritual, the would-be-bride is not supposed to leave her house until the wedding day.

Mehendi ceremony: This Manjha and the Mehendi ceremonies are attended by very close relatives and family members, which is similar to the Hindu wedding rituals.  In this ceremony, the henna designs are applied on the bride’s hands and feet of the bride as ritual. This is applied to increase beauty of the bride.

Nikaah ceremony: The Nikaah or wedding ceremony can be conducted at the home of bride or groom. They can also fix a convenient venue for the wedding. A Maulvi (priest) in the presence of close family members and relatives conduct the ceremony. The ‘Walis’ (father of the bride and groom) play an important role in the ceremony. During this ceremony Maulvi reads selected verses from the Quran and after that the Nikah-e-Qubul ceremony is conducted after which the Muslim wedding ceremony is considered as complete.

Mehar ceremony: On the day of the Nikaah, the elder members of the two families decide the amount of Mehar. This is a mandatory ritual in which a pre-fixed amount is given by the groom’s family to the bride as wedding ritual.

Nikaahnama: The Nikaahnama is document in which the marriage contract is registered. It contains a set of terms and conditions that must be respected by the both the parties, also gives the bride right to divorce her husband. For the contract to be legal, it must be signed by the Muslim bride and groom, Walis and the Maulvi.

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