PARAKH (Pajhwok): Some residents in central Panjsher province have been worried about the high dowry amount which is locally called —Toyana — and asked ulema to highlight this issue on their platforms and provide a solution to the issue through religious teachings.
Residents said some young people were unable to arrange high dowry and sought a solution to this grave issue.
Ezzatullah Arafi, a resident of Panjsher’s Rokha district, told Pajhwok Afghan News his son was engaged four years ago but was still unable to organise his wedding.
He said: “If these unpleasant norms are not eliminated my son will not be able to get married in years to come.”
Referring to economic problems, he said unemployment and heavy expenses of weddings have prevented the fulfillment of the wishes of his fiancée’s family. He also asked businessmen and well-off persons to organize mass weddings for poor people.
Sediqullah, a young man in the Dara-e-Panjsher, referred to the high dowry amount and said: “I have been engaged for almost four years and I am unable to get married due to unemployment and excessive spending.”
He asked businessmen to take steps for convening mass wedding ceremonies in Panjsher.
Khesro, another youth, from the Anaba district of Panjsher, said for the past three and a half years he had been engaged and the reason behind the delay in his wedding was a high dowry.
He asked ulem to refrain from unnecessary events such as Nawrozi and Eidi which put extra financial pressure on the groom.
Religious scholars in Panjsher said dowry should be considered one of the easily handled things in Islam, it was people who had created this problem from themselves.
Mawlavi Fahim Mowahid, one of the religious scholars, said: “In Islam wedding is an easy thing to do.”
He emphasized the importance of ease in marriage and asked scholars to create committees to prevent foreign customs and back-breaking expenses in weddings.
Mawlavi Abdul Mutalib, another scholar, said religious scholars should convey the positive consequences of easy marriages to the people through their speeches and preaching to the masses in order to avoid unnecessary expenses.
He stressed continued strictness in Nikah may force youth to opt for illegal ways and unfair behaviors.
Charging high dowry in Afghanistan was not a new issue. For years, the people of some regions of Afghanistan have been complaining about this problem and have demanded that it should be addressed by scholars and governments.
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