Marriage in Islam

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In Islamic law, marriage centers around nikah (Arabic: نِكَاح, romanized: nikāḥ), which is the marriage contract (also known as ʿaqd al-qirān, nikah nama, etc.), or more specifically, the bride's acceptance (qubul) of the groom's dower (mahr); and the witnessing of her acceptance. In addition, there are several other traditional steps such as khitbah (preliminary meeting(s) to get to know the other party and negotiate terms), walimah (marriage feast) and zifaf/rukhsati ("sending off" of bride and groom). In addition to the requirement that a formal, binding contract – either oral or on paper – of rights and obligations for both parties be drawn up, there are a number of other rules for marriage in Islam: among them that there be witnesses to the marriage, a gift from the groom to the bride known as a mahr, that both the groom and the bride freely consent to the marriage; that the groom can be married to more than one woman (a practice known as polygyny) but no more than four, that the...

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