Hyderabad: Almost all Muslim weddings scheduled during the next one month have been postponed, due to the 21-day complete lockdown getting stricter. Thousands of marriages were to be solemnized during the lunar month of Sha’ban and Christian month of April. But almost all have been postponed.
According to Qazi Habeeb Ahmed bin Salam Al’ataas, who solemnizes Nikah in and around Chandrayangutta, people are making him phone calls informing him about the postponement of marriages. Due to uncertainty, new dates are not being fixed right now.
A businessman from Alijah Kotla Shabbir Ahmed told that his brother’s marriage was scheduled in the second week of April. “Luckily we had not distributed invitation cards yet. We will fix a new date.” He said.
Mohammed Irfan who runs catering business revealed that several people have postponed marriages till Ramadan.
Because of the lockdown imposed to fight Coronavirus, traditional wedding ceremonies seem impossible as of now. However, people may opt for online Nikah taking a cue from the Bihar and UP couples who chose to take the tech route for long-distance marriage via video-conferencing.
Online Nikah
Sadiya Nasreen and Danish Raza were scheduled to have their Nikah (Muslim wedding vows) solemnised on March 23.
All arrangements for the wedding were made, including the booking of the community hall where the wedding function was scheduled to take place.
But just before their Big Day, the government announced measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. Travels were restricted, flights and trains suspended- making it difficult for the guests to get together for the wedding.
Invitation cards for the Nikah had already been sent out. Hence, the families decided to go ahead- via video conference on Monday.
They sat in front of computer screens and Qazi solemnised their wedding and their kin congratulated each other.
The bride and groom were seen sitting in their wedding dresses along with their family members, at their homes in Bihar and UP.
As reported by TOI, three such ‘Nikahs’ in the state this week. Besides Sadiya, two sisters Nagma and Rahat Parveen of Begusarai also chose to exchange their wedding vows through an online ceremony in the presence of a small group of family members and relatives.
Taking inspiration from Sadiya’s video-conferencing wedding, Naghma and Rahat had married in a similar online ceremony at their home in Begusarai’s Choti Baliya village on March 25 evening.