Muslim Board in India seeks end to dowries and extravagant marriages after woman suicide due dowry
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The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has released new guidelines for Muslims in the country with the aim of prohibiting dowries and extravagant marriages after a woman recently committed suicide due to “dowry harassment.”
The guidelines are contained in a document released for Muslims to be signed and followed. The AIMPLB is widely regarded in India as the representative of Muslims in the country.
The 11-point guidelines were released by AIMPLB Chairman Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadvi recently.
Nadvi has urged all members of the Muslim community to shun the dowry system and lavish spending during wedding ceremonies.
The move comes after a Muslim girl from Gujarat committed suicide last month by drowning herself over dowry harassment, in which her husband and in-laws physically abused her for the dowry. The suicide set off a countrywide debate over social evils associated with marriage among Muslims.
The board has already launched a 10-day drive to educate members of the community across the country and to raise awareness against such evils. During the campaign, Muslim clerics will place emphasis on solemnizing marriages according to Islamic customs to eradicate dowries and overspending during marriage functions.
llow only simple wedding ceremonies, ban dowries and do not permit traditions such as wedding processions, fireworks, dancing and lavish feasts, as it calls them un-Islamic. It only allows Dawat-e-Walima, a feast served after wedding rituals are completed by the groom’s family in which invitations are also extended to poor and needy people of the community.
Many un-Islamic rituals have ended
Maulana Umrain Mahfooz Rahmani, secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said it is not right to say that measures to end social evils like dowries are being taken suddenly.
“The Muslim Personal Law Board has been working for years to bring about good changes in society and motivates Muslims to end bad practices and customs. As far as marriage is concerned, work has been done on it for years so that the evil practices that have become associated with it could be curbed,” he told Anadolu Agency.
Previously, marriages were rarely solemnized in mosques. But now a good change is taking place and a large number of marriages are being performed in mosques and many un-Islamic rituals have ended, said Rahmani. - Anadolu Agency
