MARRIAGE- a wedlock or a deadlock

By: Asma Batool

Several cases have been reported daily on dowry, where girls and women were put to death cruelly either by their parents or in-laws. DESIGN / ILLUSTRATION: Raja Taimur Hassan

Wedding is not an easy task for the parents – especially the girl. Since the birth of a baby girl, her parents sleeve up to collect dowry and think of perfect match for her. This strive is all due to the traditions and societal norms associated with wedding.

“Marriages are fixed in heaven and are celebrated on earth”. I found such quotes on wedding cards and then my mind flashes back to the marriages celebrated in the societies like ours.

We cannot deny the fact that our society is male dominating where pursuing a right girl is based on certain bench-marks. She is judged across the standards and criteria of Cinderella in terms of beauty and Queen Elizabeth in terms of wealth.

A large number of girls are still at their parents’ doorstep just because of pre-set standards and so called traditions. Imagine a girl with moral values and education but rejected hundreds of time just for having an ordinary features or appearances. What would be the value of her eternal beauty then?

Wedding rituals also involve dowry as a significant part. This tradition is ancient and is observed even in educated class. Birth of the female is considered to be a blessing but it is due to these worthless traditions that have made a daughter – a curse for her parents. An old man strives whole life to earn resources in order to soothe his daughters’ life as stability of high-esteem marital life, which only ensured with the amount of dowry. Several cases have been reported daily on dowry, where girls and women were put to death cruelly either by their parents or in-laws.

Story is not ended here- You might hear the phrase “it’s a tradition” while conducting number of ceremonies, which are nothing more than the influence from Indo-Pak culture. Huge amount of money is wasted in these ceremonies for the sake of managing reputation in the society.

If we closely observe the concept of marriage in Islam we would find it absolutely simple- Nikah ceremony in the presence of close relative and then reception offered by groom. Alas!! Such a noble relationship is now full of financial burden for the families specially belonging to poor class.

Despite of all these worthless efforts, we cannot deny that our society is facing increased rate of divorces every day. Why we do not ask our families the reason behind these failed marriages. We have forgotten golden principles of Quran and Sunnah, and instead are following traditions as mandatory practice. We should take a glance that where we are headed as a society collectively?

In such scenario religious and key opinion leaders must play their role in eradicating the evil practices involved. They should join hands with the affected girls and women to raise their voices in media and in local community thereby highlighting outcomes of practicing these traditions.

In pre and post marriage counseling sessions topics on marriage rituals should be incorporated not only addressing couples but also their families. This will generate awareness among youth but also decision makers in the family. Remember marriage is a faithful wedlock not the deadlock of lust and contemporary ideas.

The writer is a MBA student of Institute of Business Management.

Note: The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the author of the Blog.