Female qazi breaks tradition, performs nikah (wedding)of the Great-grandson of The Former President in Delhi
New Delhi (NewsReach) : For the first time in Islam, a female Qazi performed the wedding rituals of the great-grandson of former President Zakir Hussain on Friday. On March 11, at the house of the third President of independent India, his great-grandson Gibran Rehan Rahman got married.
Syeda Sayydain Hameed, a former member of the Planning Commission, played the role of a Qazi to complete the marriage of Rehman and Ursila Ali. This nikah was organized between close relatives and friends.
Ali said that the idea of the marriage being solemnised by a female qazi was originally the bride’s and the groom welcomed it. “There was no concept of a female qazi in the Indian Islamic society so we want to make a new beginning and when we talk about equality then why not a female Qazi,” he was quoted as saying.
Ms. Hameed said the conditions set out in the nikahnama were drawn up under the aegis of the Muslim Mahila Manch, an organization of which the groom’s great-grandmother Begum Saeeda Khurshid was the founding president. While the Quranic injunctions for the conduct of nikah are mehr, witness and qazi, the additional importance of this nikahnama is the iqranama (agreement) which lists equal rights and responsibilities as well as the terms mutually agreed upon by the bride and groom, of the statement. Accordingly, with respect and due respect to all aspects of married life.
