What are the Muslim Marriage vows?
As a close friend of the family for many years, I attended a Muslim marriage ceremony in Syria (and I have attended multiple Muslim marriage celebrations of different nationalities elsewhere). There were NO VOWS EXCHANGED. The bride was in a separate room. The groom and his father and brothers (and me) sat in another room while someone (Muslim) from the government came to the home to record the official marriage contract. The man from the government spoke mostly with the father. There was some signing and reading of the Quran. The bride did sign the document that was taken to her in the other room; however, she was not with her groom/husband at the time that she became legally married. As is the tradition of my friends in Syria, they celebrate and consummate their wedding up to a year after the official marriage. The celebration for them is the marriage even though they are legally married in advance. There is not any sexual activity between the husband and wife until the wedding celeb
My wife and I have also been to a Muslim wedding in our local village and very different it appears to have been to the Syrian wedding witnessed above. It was really lovely, simple and beautiful and we had a great party after with some of the very best food ever. We still have a few momentos hanging from our ceiling ! I do not profess to know the intricacies of it all though.
