Page 87 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes Aims and Ideals

In Hindu marriage, religion and religious sentiments play an important role but not in Muslim
marriage. Hindu marriage is performed with two religious objects: one, it is the religious duty of
every Hindu to marry; and two, one must beget a son who may offer pitra-dan to pitras. All religious
rites are recognized only when performed by husband and wife together. Unlike Hindu marriage,
Muslim nikah is just a contract to enter into sex relations and produce children.
Features of the Marriage System

Muslim marriage is characterized by ‘proposal’ and its ‘acceptance’. The proposal is to come from the
boy’s side and it has to be accepted in the same meeting in which it is proposed, in the presence of
two witnesses. Hindus do not have such custom. Muslims emphasize on the capacity of a person to
contract marriage but Hindus do not believe in such capacity of making the contract. Muslims practise
dower but Hindus have no dower system. Muslims practise polygyny but Hindus reject such practice.
Muslims have a preferential system in mate selection but Hindus do not have such a system. Lastly,
unlike Muslims, Hindus do not have irregular or void marriages.
Nature of Marriage
Muslims practise temporary marriages (muta) but Hindus do not. Hindus do not observe iddat for
contracting marriages. Lastly, Hindus look down upon the widow remarriage but Muslims do not.
Marriage Relations

Amongst Hindus, the marriage relations are dissolved only after death but amongst Muslims, these
can be dissolved at the whims of the males. Muslim males can divorce their wives without the
intervention of the court (by mere renouncement) but Hindus can break the marriage only through
the court.
Need for Change in Social Legislation

Muslims, particularly the educated ones, have come to realize that the social legislation and religious
prescriptions on marriage need to be changed for various reasons: (1) the old law cannot serve the
needs of an industrial civilization; (2) education has broadened the outlook of the people and they
want to be more modern in social practices; (3) contact with other civilizations has provided a new
pattern of behaviour and new ideal of marital relationships to Muslims; (4) women have become
aware of their rights and they want a status equal to men; and (5) the Quranic facts need to be
reinterpreted in line with the present aspirations of the people.
On the other hand, there is a traditional school which does not want to interfere with the Quranic
explanations. It stubbornly resists the reform. However, the educated opinion is surely in favour of
the reorientation of Islamic beliefs and practices and the Quranic injunctions. The modernists have
been trying to persuade the conservative, old-fashioned and illiterate Muslims that their social
conservatism is against the spirit of the Quranic teaching.
3.4 The Christian Marriage

Just as Hindus are stratified in various castes or Muslims are divided in two groups of Shias and
Sunnis, similarly we find stratification among the Christians too. The two groups in which they are
divided are Protestants and Catholics. The latter are further sub-divided as Latin Catholics and Syrian
Catholics. Each group and sub-group is an endogamous group. Catholics do not marry with Protestants
and Latin Catholics do not marry with Syrian Catholics. With this background of social stratification
among the Christians, we may analyze the Christian marriage and compare it with Hindu and Muslim
marriages.

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