Muslims In `Eid

Traditions of Marriage

In Tajikstan: Weddings Are More Sweet with Rice

The first thing that grasps our attention in the weddings in Tajikstan is that the groom does not like gold. Even if it happens that the groom has a desire for gold, she chooses only one ring. On proposing to a girl it is totally strange. Abdul Ghaffar Yusuf, a Tajik researcher, says: “ when a young man decides chooses the family to marry from, he goes there to see the girl along with his mum. Once, he gets admired with the girl, he delivers a short religious sermon advising the future wife of being righteous and keeping on following the teachings of Islam and preparing herself for the tasks of the coming life i.e. cooking and household. This signifies that the groom has accepted the girl. Later, the marriage ceremonies begin to be carried out, dower, marriage expenses and the like. It is very simple here in Tajikstan. All that is required from the bride’s father is to buy a heap of cotton that suffices for twenty pillows. Then, the dower ranging between 160 to 320 thousand Robel is decided. Then comes the expenses of the food offered to the attendants of the wedding. The bride’s father asks the groom to bring a cow, five bags of rice, 100 kilo of carrots, 50 liters of cooking oil, 20 kilos of onion and 20 kilos of raisins. All this is needed for making the Bukhari rice. Now it is bride’s mother’s turn. She has prepared for the groom a list of the clothes he has to buy for her daughter. In the wedding day, which is almost Saturday or Sunday, all the relatives and the friends are called for having lunch. With joy and happiness roaming around, the guests eat and celebrate the establishment of a new house and the birth of a new Muslim family.