Muslim weddings

Your essential guide to the Muslim wedding ceremony

On the big day

• The marriage ceremony itself is called the Nikah. The bride and groom are separated, either in different parts of the hall, or in different rooms. Guests are traditionally also separated by gender, although in Western cultures they may be mixed.
• The marriage party listens to a marriage sermon given by the Muslim officiating at the service. This serves to solemnise the marriage. There are no particular specifications so the marriage ceremony is very much up to the Qazi performing the ritual. Some recite the Fatihah (the first chapter of the Koran) and the blessing or durud.
• Traditionally, there is no service sheet, although, in recent years, texts have been supplied.
• The marriage documents (contract and certificate) are filed at the mosque and the local government. The ceremony ends with a prayer (Duoa) for the bride and groom, their families, and the Muslim community at large.
• You can throw confetti, but it is more traditional to shower the bride with coins, a ritual known as Savaqah.
• A marriage banquet, or Walima, follows the ceremony, served to the men and women separately. After the meal the couple are seated together for the first time, their heads covered by a dupatta and prayers are read.

The bride and groom spend the first night of married life at her house, in separate rooms. In the morning, the bride’s father will escort them to their new home and give the bride’s hand to her husband, asking him to protect his daughter. This farewell ritual is known as the rukhsat.

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