A family in Kerala's Palakkad district was allegedly ostracised by the local mosque committee for what they claim was a vulgar wedding. The definition of vulgar? The women were allowed to sing, pose for pictures and have fun.
In January 2019, the mosque committee punished Danish Riyaz, brother of the groom, and his family for hosting a wedding that went against the mosque rules by including singing and dancing, they claim, reported The News Minute.
Additionally, the mosque committee accused the family of allowing women to speak over microphone to bless the newly-wed couple, arranging an orchestra to entertain the guests and allowing children to dance on the stage, reported The Week.
The reception was shifted to another district and was held on 28 December 2018 in Edappal in Malappuram district, 13 km away from Aloor. Nonetheless, it still triggered a boycott.
Appeal Made Via Facebook
On 11 February, Riyaz took to Facebook to write an open letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Thrithala MLA VT Balram to explain the situation and seek their intervention in the issue.
“This was my brother’s wedding party. I knew that our Mahallu (mosque) has some traditional rules which is not followed in most other parts of Kerala, including in our neighbouring village. It was to avoid any conflict with the Aloor Committee that we shifted the wedding reception to Viva Palace in Edappal, Malappuram, which is nowhere close to Aloor or the mosque.”Riyaz in a Facebook post.
The mosque committee members typically collect Rs 100 from each Muslim household for mosque upkeep, but have stopped collecting this from Riyaz’s family. The family has also been disallowed from another tradition that’s held every 3 months, that of entertaining the ustads for lunch reported The News Minute.
“The next week, when we went for Friday prayers, the chief Khatheeb took to the mic to publicly insult us. He called it a vulgar wedding and said the mosque will no longer cooperate with my family in any matter.”Riyaz in a statement to TNM.
Riyaz has taken full responsibility, stating that his family was unaware of the wedding arrangements and thus should be exempt from any punishment.
“I respect and accept the boycott and will follow any remedial procedures to make amends,” he wrote in his Facebook post.
The groom also requested the committee to lift the boycott in a letter, but has received no response.
“It has been 45 days since we sent the letter and we have not heard from them. I have now, through my Facebook post, appealed to the chief minister, our MLA VT Balram and the State Human Rights Commission, to speak with the committee and help my family. This message has been heard and the police too had visited my house to ask us to contact them if we face any problems.”Riyaz on Facebook
Response From The Mosque
A committee member from the mosque denied the placement of any boycott or ban on the family.
“We have stopped cooperating with them temporarily. Since 2010, we have followed a stringent rule where we don’t allow weddings to have musical programmes, dance, alcohol etc. We had informed everyone about this. We had also informed this family before their wedding. Even if they go to another district and celebrate their wedding this rule stays.”Mosque representative to TNM
(With inputs from The News Minute and The Week)
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