Interfaith Marriage and Ritual

Islam is thought to have developed from Judeo-Christian traditions and the cultural ideals of the nomadic Bedoun tribe in the seventh century in Saudi Arabia, then known as Mecca. During this time, the Islamic religion extended into regions that the Sassanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire had previously ruled (Ahmed, 2002). This religion is credited with being founded by Prophet Muhammad, who is said to have been visited by the angel Gabriel. He got a message, which he sent to Mecca starting in 613. It is believed that by the mid-18th century, the religion had spread in North Africa and the East of Central Asia and over the centuries, the Islamic faith has continued to grow in regions such as the South Asia and the sub-Saharan Africa. The growth of the Islamic religion was attributed to the faith's openness to new members and the fact that children born in this religion are automatically considered to be Muslims. Moreover, for any non-Muslim who desires to be a Muslim can convert to Islam by only making a declaration to be a Muslim (Lipka & Hackett, 2015). As such, any individual who makes this statement, it serves as sufficient evidence for the conversion to Islam, and this does not require to be confirmed by any religious authority.
Sacred Text
The Quran is the sacred text for Muslims, which contains the verses or the Surah's urging the Muslims to worship only one God, and also guides the humanity on the way they ought to treat their fellow human beings. The Hadith is another sacred text for the Muslims, which were written following the death of Mohammed. The book describes the life of this prophet as one to be emulated by others; it prescribes the law for the community, which is based on the sacred text the Quran and Mohammed's like the example. Moreover, Hadith describes how curtains in the Islam ought to be performed. The Islamic practices five principles which they also refer to as pillars, these includes, their oral declaration of their faith, shadda, praying five times a day, salat; fasting in the daylight during the month of Ramadhan (swan). In addition, it involves giving a share of their income for charity and lastly making a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime if they are in a position to do it (hajj). Moreover, the Muslim also observe some dietary rules similar to those of Judaism such as forbidding certain foods such as the pork, alcohol and in case they are to take meat, they have a particular way in which those animals are slaughtered for food.
God
The Muslims believe in one God whom they refer to as Allah, who sent his revelation, the Quran to Prophet Mohammed during the seventh century with the purpose of proclaiming it to humankind (Lipka & Hackett, 2015)
Myths about Islam
The Islam religion has been subjected to numerous myths and misconception due to people's lack of its understanding. The following include the most held myths as well the misconceptions about Muslims. Islam's are believed to degrade women, making the Islamic religion misogynistic. This is manifested by the requirement of the women to cover their entire bodies leaving part of their face, divorces are given by gender, and the fact that Muslim men often limit the women's freedom of movement. These were misconceptions held as a result of some men in the 10-12th century who had misinterpreted the Quran so as to meet their sociocultural situations and circumstances. Another myth that is held firmly is that the Islam is often intolerant to the non-Muslims. Muslims are viewed as racists who are not tolerant to non-Muslims and more often determined to destroy the non-Muslim societies. Mostly, these misconceptions need to be opposed to such allegations since they are often as a result of political and not religious basis. This view of the Muslims is opposed to the requirement of the Quran, which preaches on the tolerance of the non-Muslims, puts a lot of value to the value of human life, and discourages killing. The misconception is as a result of many acts which has Muslims as the main perpetrators.
Another view is that the Muslims are advocates for conservatism. This has been in particular countries such as those in the Middle East and the South East Asia who claim that their government system is based on the Islamic law, which is highly associated with conservatism. With this conservatism, the citizens are limited regarding the freedom of speech and the government is known to violate the rights of its citizens especially for the non-Muslims, the homosexuals as well as the female gender. It is for this reason that the religion of Islam has been associated with fundamentalism along with conservatism (Kayaoglu, 2015). This is simply a misunderstanding of the laws of these nations are only written by men and are not directly quoted from the Quran or the Hadith.
Another myth that is prevalent in the present days is that all Muslims are Arabs and all Arabs are Muslims, and at times, these groups are and the same thing. The Arabs are a linguistic and cultural group found in the Middle East while the Muslims are those individuals who subscribe to the Islamic faith. Of the 1.2 billion Muslims in the whole world today, only 15-20% is Arabs. Consequently, the Arabs belong to different religious groups such as those in Palestine, Yemen, Morocco and other countries.
In addition, the word Jihad means Holy War and is waged against the West, and this has become the most misunderstood word among the Muslims. In fact, the word is used by Muslims to mean the struggle for the purpose of bringing an individual closer to God. Most often, people who are trampled by global politics turn to this as the final definition as the last definition as a justification for the violent actions of states such as the United States disregarding the many sections in the Quran which are against the innocent killings ( Kayaoglu, 2015). Therefore, while at time the world Jihad means violence, there so many Muslims who are against its use in the context, stating that their actions are motivated by politics and are not justifiable in any given context by the Muslim backgrounds.
With the expansion of Islam, the Islamic societies have embraced different customs, which they have encountered, and as a result, the Muslims have created various cultural traditions. Diverse communities exist within the Islam such as the Sunnis, Shiis, Druze and the Ismailis as a result of differences in the doctrine and political aspects (Ahmed, 2004). The direct experience of the divine is emphasized in Sufism, which is the mystical tradition of Islam.
Comparison of Aspects rituals associated with Islam Marriage with Catholic Faith
Just like Muslims are encouraged to marry with few choosing to stay single, it is the same in catholic where most of them are married with exception of those with special calling on serving God. One ritual associated with marriage in Catholic Church is engagement ceremonies, which are also called pre-weddings in some regions. In Christianity and particularly catholic, engagement is an important event and the couple can even request the presence of a priest to bless the engagement. The engagement period is normally between one and two years but there is no limit, which is normally set. In comparison, there is no religious importance that is attached to engagement in Islam and there is no set time that the engagement should last before marriage ceremony can take place.
Another comparative aspect in the marriage ritual between Catholics and Muslims is the witnesses required at the ceremony. For the Muslims, two witnesses from either sides are required as opposed to Catholic Church where a total of two witnesses (usually a couple) are required. In the signing of marriage contract in the catholic religion, the presence of both the bride and groom is important while for the Muslims, the bride need not be there provided her two witnesses are there. In Islam, bride price is agreed to be paid by the groom during Nikha (marriage contract). The payment is referred to as Mahr and it is for the bride to spend as per their wishes. This is in contrast with catholic religion where the bride price is settled in advance and is given to the parents of the bride.
In both the Catholic Church and Islam, the wedding day consists of two parts. For Muslims the first part is the Nikah while the second one is referred to as Walimah. For Catholics, the two celebrations undertaken during the wedding day includes the marriage ceremony and the reception. The Nikah in Islam compares well to ceremony in catholic and it is at this instance that legal binding between the couple occurs. Mostly the two occurs in the place of worship; mosque and church respectively. Catholics normally conduct the ceremony at church with the intention of receiving God's blessings. However, for Islam, the Nikah can takes place at home as they believe God's presence is everywhere-tawhid.
Figure 1: a typical catholic ceremony. ((Source: wedding-in-tuscany.com)

Figure 2: A typical Islam Nikah (source: http://www.droreyal.co.za)
The walimah in Islam and reception in Catholics also occurs in almost a similar fashion and both have a more personal element. However, they differ in timing with the Walimah happening the next day after Nikah while the reception for Christian is scheduled for the same day.

Figure 3: typical walimah in Islams (source: Wordpress.com)

Figure 4: A typical catholic reception (source: Inside Weddings)
In terms of what occurs during the marriage ceremony, for Catholics, there are specific rituals that are conducted. This include Bible readings with the first one coming from old testament followed by a responsorial psalms. This is followed by a New Testament reading, a Gospel Acclamation before the Gospel is read and Homily conducted. Hymns and prayers also form part of the wedding ceremony in Catholic Church. In contrast, in Islamic wedding ceremonies Quranic verses may be recited but such rituals are not mandatory. The Islam wedding ceremonies more often than not have heavy influence of culture and thus there is huge variations from different Muslim cultures.
In a typical catholic wedding, the ceremony kicks off with the best man, who is normally a friend of the wedding couple standing with the bridegroom at the east end of the church as they await the arrival of the bride. It is normally a custom for the bride to be led down the aisle and be presented to the bridegroom by her father which symbolizes that the father is willingly giving his daughter away to be taken care of by new man and the two families comes together. With the arrival of the bride, the couple stand together and face the alter as show of respect. The service kicks off with a hymn and the priest normally reads from his book of services, "We have come here together in the presence of God to witness the marriage of…" The priest also goes ahead to inquire if there is anyone with an objection to the marriage.
This contrast sharply with the beginning of nikah. For Islam, nikah starts with the giving of mahr, which is a marriage gift or the dowry, given top the bride by the groom. This is a critical component of the nikah as it equips the bride financially in case of a divorce. The mahr also plays the role of showing the commitment of the groom to the union. The giving of dowry has its origin and backing in the Qur'an, "'And give the women (on marriage) their mahr as a (nikah) free gift' (Qur'an 4:4)." The Imam then gives a sermon inviting the bride and the groom and all the other participating guests in the assembly to a life of piety, mutual love, kindness as well as social responsibility. This originated from Prophet Muhammad, who made it a tradition, Sunnah, to have a delivery of marriage sermon in solemnizing the marriage.
Nature and Function of Marriage in Muslim Religion
Marriage is known to be one of the universal institutions with a biological foundation, which is established by humans with the aim of controlling and regulating the sexual life of the human beings (Mahmood, 2015). Moreover, it is as well considered to be a legal union between a male a female. When individuals become of age, they consciously or subconsciously enter in a system of comparison, selection and after that marriage take place. In the Islamic faith, marriage is viewed as a religious obligation where the couple gets into a contract with the Allah. Also, it is seen as a legal contract between a primary and a woman with the main aim of safeguarding the couple's rights as well as those of the children (Mahmood, 2015). The contract of marriage is registered in a sharia court with the primary purpose of ensuring it meets the requirements of the law. Islam forbids all forms of sexual relationships outside the marriage relationship. Marriage is seen as a permanent relationship and not a temporary one where the partners are supposed to make efforts for the purpose of living together and offering their contribution to the society. The family institution, which is formed during the marriage, is an important aspect of the life of a Muslim by the fact that it serves as a basic unit. Therefore, it is clear that marriage in Islam serves the purpose of continuing the family as well as enjoying the sexual rights of a human being.
According to Islamic traditions, marriage creates a unit of society which recognizes God as an integral part of the union in matters to do with the decision-making and as well identifies the mutual right as and the obligations between the spouses (Mahmood, 2015). It is through marriage that the commitments which are bound on mutual physical, spiritual and mental satisfaction. It is believed that through such unions, there is the creation of equity unions, there is nature of equity, harmony and it acts as a source of peace, security, and comfort and where there is continuity of family.
The Islamic marriage entails the proposal, the acceptance, the agreement upon the mahr, signing of the contract and finally, publicizing the marriage (Rizvi, 2014). During the wedding, the family members often play a vital role since parents are regarded as the bedrock of the society through the Islamic history. The families are considered significant through provision of the physical and moral support, which is deemed necessary in the sustenance of healthy nuclear and extended families.
In the Quran, marriage is described as a compassionate and peaceful relationship, which is grounded in love. The spouses are defined as garments for one another, and this encourages them to have supportive, protective and a marital relationship that is nurturing (Rizvi, 2014). In the Islamic faith, the couples ought to consult each during the decision making process. Both the wife and the husband have parental responsibilities by being just, honest and patient with their children. According to the Islamic law, parents are held accountable for bringing up their children who are both physiologically and psychologically health and can positively contribute into the society.
Maher
The Muslim marriage contract includes a formal statement, which indicates the monetary amount the groom pays the bride. The Maher has two parts, the due before marriage consummation and the differed amount given to the bride through her life, which may take the variety of forms such as the land, jewelry or even money the Maher acts as security for the bride and also guarantees her freedom in the marriage (Wani, 2016). The marriage contract is often signed during a ceremony referred to as Nikah where the groom together with his representatives proposes to the bride in the presence of witnesses stating the deters of the contract. According to the Islam, the dowry does not exist, and in fact, it is forbidden. Instead, the bride is given a gift, which can take a variety of forms and is often referred to as Mahr. This gift is agreed upon by the spouses and most often given before the wedding ceremony (Wani, 2016).
After the couple has made an agreement, they often proceed to hold an engagement ceremony where they couple exchanges ring if they wish. This commitment ceremony also offers an opportunity for the families of the two couples to meet. In the Islamic tradition, the bride dress for the engagement ceremony is often presented to the bride by the groom's family as a gift. However, it is not a requirement for the couples to exchange the rings, though it is a practice that is often practiced by most Muslims.
Purpose of the Islamic marriage
The most important role of marriage in the Islam is the aspect of procreation where they are expected to continue and increase the Muslim's population. Without marriage, it is hard to achieve this purpose and more so when there is disobedience towards Allah making the individuals be denied of blessings as well as making the whole society corrupted. The other role of marriage is to satisfy humankind pleasure. This institution fulfills the desire of man and channels these desires in ways, which please Allah. Mohammed, Allah's messenger, made it clear that the attraction that occurs between man and woman is natural and it ought not to be suppressed or denied. Moreover, the desire men and women have for each other should be fulfilled and satisfied and this can only take place in marriage. In case they are not performed, they result in discord and instability in the society. Due to this reason, according to Mohammed, he asked that both men and women who are in a position to fulfill these responsibilities that they should marry. In the marriage, it gives an opportunity for the couple to enjoy sex, and it is through this that there can be reproduction, which will bring forth children. It is only after marriage that a couple is allowed to enjoy sex. Therefore, in the Islamic faith, virginity is a treasured aspect.
Elements of Islam's global reach
Forces that brought the couple together
Working in Saudi Arabia as an English teacher is the primary reason that made the couple made the couple met in the first place. However, for them to fall in love and arrive to marriage decision there are many elements that may have played a role. One element that could have led to the relationship is the desire for Muslims to learn English. Muslims are becoming more and more interested in knowing the English language and most of them are enrolling in English classes. This could have happened with the man and in the process of learning the language, the couple fell in love. Another reason that could explain the coming together of the two is the desire for cultural exchange. As a teacher, one would be interested to learn more dynamics of their students. Living in Saudi Arabia, which is dominated by Islam, would also spark interest of learning the Islam culture. As teacher, one can learn this from the student. A bond could then be created in the process of learning especially if one of the students is also interested in learning the cultural practices of the teacher. It is during this exchange than love can develop.
Where is Muslim Practiced
Islam is the major religion in Saudi Arabia and Middle East. However, the practice of Islam is not limited to this religion. The religion has spread far and wide in the entire globe. It is specifically the dominant religion in Middle East, North Africa as well as the Horn of Africa. Moreover, Islam religion has large following in Sahel, Central Asia, parts Asia, China, the Balkans, India as well as Russia. Other sections of the globe also host a significant number of Muslim immigrant communities in Western Europe. Islam has grown to be the second largest religion group after Christianity representing 6 percent of the population, which is equivalent to 24 million people. Globally, Islamic religion represents 23.4 percent of the population, which amounts to 1.6 billion people.
Demographics of Muslims
Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity with over 1.6 billion people practicing this form of faith and majority putting it at the heart of how they live their lives. Islam is mostly associated with countries in the Northern Africa or the Middle East countries. However, there are over 62% of the population living in the Asian -Pacific region. Muslims belong to a community of believers known as the Ummah where the members are united in certain beliefs and practices. For instance, all the Muslims believe there is no other god apart from Allah whom they are obliged to worship. In addition, they believe that Mohammed is Allah's messenger and that the Koran is Allah's recitation. Islam teaches the presence of only one God in the whole universe just as Christianity does and this gives the Muslims a monotheistic view of the religion with the teachings originating from Mohamed, who is considered to be their prophet.
Major sects in Islam
The Islam has different sects where the Muslims belong. The Sunni has the majority of the Muslims accounting to around 84-90%. The sect regards itself as the one who put more emphasis on following the traditions of the prophet Mohammed. The Shiite Muslims comprise of 10-16% of the total Muslim population. This sect belief that Mohammad's son-in-law was his successor and the Muslims should, therefore, be headed by a descendant of Muhammad the Sufi's has myths in the religion. They go beyond the visible requirements of a religion and continue to seek their personal experience with God through all forms of meditation and spiritual growth. For the Druze, Alexis and the Alwis are the sects, which have unorthodox beliefs and practices making them different from other Islam. The last sects are the Bahai's and the Ahmadiyyas sects where the earlier considers themselves as the newest and the one, which is mostly recognized. The latter regard themselves as Muslims. For most Muslims, they believe the two groups as members of the Islamic faith and are rather individuals who are corrupted and do not practice the Islamic religion (Lane & Redissi, 2016).
Projection of the Islam
In the whole world, Christianity has long been known to be the largest religion. However, there has been an increased growth of Muslims in the recent past such as that research projects that there is a possibility that by 2070, the number of Muslims will be equal to those of the Christians and possibly outnumber them by 2100 (Siham, 2015). Therefore, the Islamic religion is projected to grow twice as fast as those of other faiths do. Despite the fact that the Christianity is the most dominant religion, it will, however, lose its religious status in the majority of the countries. The primary reason is that the religious adherents have a younger population than other secular individuals. Therefore, it is due to the demographic factors that will drive this growth basically because the Muslims have the most youthful population and have the highest fertility rates compared to other religious groups. With this significant dramatic change, it is unclear whether it will come with global conflicts between the Muslims and the Christians (Siham, 2015).
Projection for close to the next two decades indicates that the Muslim population is likely to surge upwards by almost 35 percent. This means their total population globally which stands at 1.6 billion is likely to hit 2.2 billion by 2035, as per population projections of the Pew Research Center's forum on Religion and Public life. It is estimated the Islam population will outgrow the other religion by almost double (PewReserch Centre, 2017). This translates to annual growth rate of 1.5 percent as compared to annual growth rate of 0.7 percent for the rest of individual religions. With such a trend, the Islamic religion is likely to form 26.4 percent of the Global total projected population of 8.3 billion by the year 2030, which will be up from the 2010's world population of 6.9 billion people. However, despite this huge expected growth, it will not be able to match the 2.2 percent growth rate experienced in the last two decades (PewReserch Centre, 2017).

My opinion about interfaith marriage
Most often individuals who enter in inter faith marriages do not have an idea of what they are getting themselves in. The couples who get in interfaith marriage do not get time to think about the practical implications of the religious differences that exist between them. Most people treasure their religion, be it Christianity, Islamic or even Buddhism. Therefore, in case they marry outside their faith, these people tend to take their religion less serious, and at times, their faith is lost entirely. It is also important to note that one's faith is a challenging thing for the people who are in interfaith marriages. Some events such as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one and even the misfortunes that occur in life can make an individual be prompted to go back in the first faith.
There are so many challenges that are posed interfaith marriages and for that reason, the best way to avoid them according to me is by avoiding these intermarriages, for instance in the Christian faith when the couples who are married in a Catholic church, they are supposed to be raised as Catholic. The same way, when Muslims get children, they are obliged to bring up their children as Muslim. This, therefore, would pose a challenge in the case of an interfaith marriage between a Muslim and a Catholic since each wants their religion to be followed. As a result of these issues, they often have terrible conflicts, which are hard for the children to bear with.
Interfaith marriages come with many challenges, which make it hard for the couple to endure. This increases the rate of conflicts in the marriages resulting in numerous cases of divorce and separations. If the interfaith marriages are allowed, they can bring undesired consequences. It is undeniable that the interfaith marriage can have double edge effects. For instance, there have been a lot of linkages between interfaith marriages, divorce and separations. Therefore, the interfaith marriages should be avoided at all cost since neither the bible nor the Quran advocates for divorces and separation.
Another challenge that can be faced by those couples who are in the interfaith marriages is the issue of baptism for their children as well as the religion to be followed by their children. Different religions have different ways of baptism whereas others do not at any cost belief in the doctrine of baptism, indeed it is not in their beliefs. Therefore, being involved in an interfaith marriage can greatly affect the religion as well as the life of the involved parties.
Before an engagement of two couples who are in different religions come together through marriage, there should be a proper understanding on how they will deal with their religious differences as well as the religion which their children will take after. Failure to the couple having an understanding or getting into a marriage blindly without having an understanding of their expectations, there will be continued increased rate of conflicts among individuals who have different religions. Moreover, there should be a clear distinction between religion and traditions as well as culture. Having an understanding of these terms and come into reality, a better understanding will be created among individuals of different religions.





References

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