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Traditions
of Marriage
Indonesia:
Three Months of Honey Moon on Groom’s House
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In
Indonesia, it is very strange. After asking about the girl’s family,
the young man takes a scholar and goes to the bride’s father to
propose to her. It is the scholar who makes the initiative and talks on
behalf of the groom.
Shamsoury Phono Jam`aan from Jawa tells us about the practices of the
residents of Indonesia and says: “ The Indonesian families pay due
respect to a learned man specially the one with religious education and
make it easy for him with regard to marriage. I myself was asked by my
bride to recite Surat Al-Anfal as a dower. Later, I gave her the best
present in Jawa; that is a Mushaf (Copy of the Glorious Qur’an) and
prayer mat. I prepared one room, that is our residence, along with a
bed, a wardrobe and some cooking ware.
Two days before the wedding party, my mum called all those people around
to pay “Nokuut”; it is a present offered to the newly weds as a form
of helping them to face their new family life. On the wedding party, all
people gather together to eat and celebrate. Four hours later, the
celebration is over and the groom takes his bride and go to her family
house for four days and then move to the groom’s family house for
other four days. At the end of these four days, the family members
gather to decide the issue of the honey moon that lasts for three months
in which the groom stays in the house of his in-laws.
During that
period, he does nothing but trying his best to make his bride happy. The
three months mark the end of the previous life and the beginning of a
new life full of joy and happiness with his life-long partner.
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