Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-03-17

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “The nikah (marriage) that secures the most barakah (blessings) is that nikah which involves the least expense” (Bukhari).

Yet today the vast amounts of money spent on lavish weddings, the intermingling of sexes, totally contradicts the teachings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

In the process of arranging a wedding there will be differences of opinion which can lead to serious consequences and severing of ties between family and friends.

According to an article written by Sonal Bhadoria, Section Head-News at India Times, an unbelievable incident regarding the choice of food has resulted in a wedding in India being called off.

The wedding of Saifulla and Yasmin Taj was supposed to be held at a masjid in KG Halli and the reception arranged at Golden Heritage Shadi Mahal in Fraser Town.

Bhadoria told Radio Islam the wedding of the couple in Bengaluru was called off because at the reception the girl’s family prepared chicken biryani.

She said the groom’s family was upset as they do not eat chicken and demanded that mutton biryani be served.  

According to Bhadoria, the trivial matter soon snowballed into a verbal tirade with no side backing off even after the intervention of elders. “So this small trivial matter got blown out of proportion…”

After witnessing the altercations between the two families, Yasmin decided the fight was an indicator of things to come but also had reservations of the alliance, as she did not know anything about her future husband.

“So the girl had her reservations from before and when she saw that the groom’s side is fighting over such a petty matter, she went to her parents and said ‘I do not want to pursue this alliance anymore,’ and she decided to call off the wedding.”

Bhadoria said Yasmin’s parents supported her decision in calling off the wedding while the groom’s family didn’t try to change their mind and took back the mehar (dowry) that had been given to the bride.

“The bride with her parents went to the police station and registered a complaint that there was a fight which happened…about the verbal arguments, but I believe she had decided to withdraw the complaint to avoid a bad name for her family,” said Bhadoria.

Bhadoria said the KG Halli police were shocked by the complaint and had never seen or heard of a wedding being cancelled just over biryani.

“We are unable to take any case in this matter as there are no strong grounds to register a complaint. We do not want to rub salt on the wounds of both family members by registering complaints against them as it would further damage the possibility of a patch up. We hope the families will sit patiently and go ahead with the wedding,” the police said.

Bhadoria said that it’s sad that egos led to the rupture of the marriage, but for now the blame lies squarely on the cooked shoulders of that chicken biryani.

According to Bhadoria, Yasmin has decided to pursue education and further her studies and not dwell on marriage.

Radio Islam listeners also commented on the story, which had a humorous element but was definitely not funny.   

“ I think the girl made a very good decision, because today the girls can speak out and the in-laws cannot bully the girl,” a listener from Lenasia told Moulana Sulaiman Ravat.

Another listener from Benoni said a marriage that was conducted locally ended in divorce because the groom refused to remove his kurtha and don a suit and tie after the nikah when his wife asked him to do so.

(Twitter: @Faizie143)