China and Muslim Weddings

A country with the largest population, it’s hard to generalise the traditions into a few points. Having such a large population means there are also different practises in different cities and across different Muslims. There are aspects of Islam and the Muslim cultures in these Chinese Muslim weddings as is the case with many other cultures.

Since the Abbasid caliph helped the Chinese emperor in 755 Islam has grown in china. This is because the soldiers who went over to help the chines were Muslim and mostly Muslim Turks who then married Chinese woman and in this way Islam bloomed in china.

In non-muslim Chinese weddings there are many superstitious practises and this is what creates a difference in the Islamic and non-Islamic weddings. The Muslims stay away from these practises and stick mostly to the Islamic laws. The Hui area is where Islam mainly sprang from in the 7^th century and that’s where most of the Muslim wedding traditions are from. There is also another group of Muslims called the uyghurs and they are in a region called xinjiang.

A Chinese Muslim wedding is more or less summed up in the following points

1.       Consent

Both the bride and groom are asked and the marriage is only completed with both their consent. This was not the case in the past and even today in some poor villages the consent is not seen as a necessity. However those who follow the religion in the correct manner understand that the consent of the bride and the groom is essential and is a condition in Islam.

 

2.       Music

Just like in most weddings around the world music is a tool for celebration. This is more a modern feature of Chinese weddings and is not so much Islamic as it is cultural. In this case Muslim weddings differ from Chinese non-muslim weddings as the gongs, fire crackers or any other type of traditional music is considered to be superstitious and therefore avoided by Chinese Muslims.

3.       The gift

After the imam has read the rights and stated them as husband and wife the husband is expected to gift his bride with jewellery or clothes depending again on the city and customs.

4.       Staying within the culture and religion

It is disliked and frowned upon if someone from the Hui region marries outside of their culture and if this occurs then the partner is expected to accept Islam. This acceptance occurs a few days before the wedding in a separate occasion.

5.       The food

Chinese customs are very symbolic and this is also the case in Muslim weddings in china. There are 8 or more dishes and each symbolizes something. The uyghurs have a separate tradition where the couple share some bread and the first to eat it is said to be more loyal.

6.    A khutbah or lecture

The norm is that the imam who does the nikah also gives a small lecture and sweets are distributed or rice cakes.

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