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Cultural Practices In Arab Marriage

By Debra Gibson


The most basic unit of the society is the family which is started by the wedding. This has made unions be treated with high levels of respect. In making this realized, different communities have their ways of conducting marriages. The Arab marriage culture is one of the societies which have maintained their respect for unions.

As a usual practice, all marriages start with the selection of these couples . Most Arabs practice arranged marriages where the father will choose for their son the perfect woman to marry. This son will, however, give suggestions on the choice. On the women part, her parents have the mandate of accepting any approach from any man they feel right for their daughter.

Marriage is viewed as an agreement of union between two families. It is for this reason that a marriage contract is established between them. Of the many items that may be found in a marriage contract is the pride price. It is usually a gift from the grooms family to the bride as an appreciation sign for giving them their daughter, and its value depends on the two families understanding.

Additionally and perhaps the most important of it all the contract outlines the roles of the bride and the groom in the household. The Arab society follows the traditional concepts of marriage where the husband is the head of the family and provider too. The wife is a homemaker who will ensure that the husband and the children are well taken care of by providing all that they need including good food.

A ceremony will always mark any marriage. In the service, people come together to enjoy the new bonding formed between these two individuals. The couples are also given some private time where the groom breaks the hymen of his bride. The blood stains are then displayed to the parents and the public too. This, however, has turned to be optional to many these days.

The matrimonial life is depicted by the submissive nature of the Arab wife. They are taught to respect their husbands and accept their decisions as the final say in any argument or matter in their house. It is the husband whether to agree or not to concern his wife working. Additionally, the man should be made aware of what the wife is doing or where she intends to go.

Polygamy is accepted in Arab marriages where the man can marry a maximum of 4 women. The wife is expected to take the co-wives and love them. In many cases, this has never been the case since these wives are always in bad blood with each other and hatred replaces the love expected of them.

In the event of a divorce, the wife is supposed to go back to her parents house or any other male family member since the Arab culture does not allow any woman to live alone. The children are, however, left with the father. The husband is expected to provide maintenance fee still to the family, and a divorce fee is also paid with regards to the marriage contract.




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