Essay On Cultural Ceremony

Cultural Ceremonies and Language

A ceremony is a formal religious event that signifies a special occasion and marks a rite of passage in a human life, for example the birth of a child, baptism, initiation, puberty, graduation, weddings and death.

Culture is a system or way of life for a group of people. Everything humans perceive, know, think, value and feel is learned through participating in a cultural system and is passed along by communication and initiation from one generation to the next. Culture can be identified in a person’s appearance, their religion, cooking, writing and music.

Language is a verbal expression of identity and religion and has symbolic functions. Language shapes the belief and thought system of the speaker and is an expression of their identity.

Women are not allowed to enter the musjid; therefore the bride is not present at the ceremony. The ceremony starts off with a knowledgeable person, called the imam, who recites Arabic verses from the Quraan.

The bride is represented by a male guardian, known as Wali. One matrimonial party expresses the willing consent, “ijab”, to enter into the marriage and the other party expresses their acceptance of responsibility into marriage, known as “qubul”. This is done in accordance to Islamic Shari’ah law and in the presence of witnesses. A gift to the bride, known as dowry is part of the ceremony and presented to the Wali. This gift can be in the form of deeds to a house, jewelry or cash. Saffiya’s father was her representation and he offered her to the groom, Mohammed Adie, who accepted with the reply: “I accept marrying your daughter/in your guard giving her name to myself in accordance to the Islamic Shari 'ah and in the presence of the witnesses here with the dowry agreed upon. And Allah is our best witness.” A sermon, known as Khutba-tun-Nikaah, is given to bless the