MARRIAGE EASIER FOR TURKS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2902, 17 January 1911, Page 7

MARRIAGE EASIER FOR TURKS.

RESTRICTIONS AND EXPENSES ABOLISHED BY THE SHEIK-UL-ISLAM.

A step of great importance to the Ottoman Empire has just been taken by the Sheik-ul-Islam, the religious head of the Shiah section of the Moslem world. This reform abolishes the complications and restrictions connected with Turkish marriage, and reduces the ceremony to terms of almost Gretna Green simplicity.

According to the Constantinople correspondent of the "Chronicle" it is a mistake to suppose that every Osmanli has several wives, and that he is at liberty to marry as many times as he likes, and that for him it is just as easy to divorce a wife as to change an overcoat. The correspondent says : ''Polygamy is the exception in Turkey, and not tho rule, and divorce is much less frequent than in Christian countries. By far the weightiest reason for this is the intricate character both of the wedding and of the legal separation between husband and wife.

"To begin with, a Turk desiring to marry has to hand over to his bride's parents a sum of between £lO and £SOO, or even much more, according to the social position of the couple, in order to furnish the nuptial chamber. He must send to the bride a number of presents, consisting of bracelets, earrings, brooches, rings, &c, of a price frequently beyond his means. If the presents are considered by the parents inferior to their pretensions, they art immediately sent back, and the engagement is declared off. "'The girl has, on her part to defray all the expenses connected with the marriage and the frequent receptions following, which is always a costly, as well as a showy, business with the Mussulmans. After the engagement comes the socalled nikiah, a kind of civil contract.

i wilu iue Mussulmans. Aiier uie engagement comes the socalled nikiah, 'a kind of civil contract. | "Should the husband subsequently I intend to send his wife away or to divorce her, he must pay to her a sum of money decided upon at. this nikiah—a sum varying; from £lO to £IOOO or more. It is natural that the parents should try to fix this sum at as high a figure as possible, in order to safeguard their daughter from the possible caprice and arbitrariness of their son-in-law. "Should a Turk be inclined to take a second wife—the legal number must never exceed four—he is obliged to provide for her a separate house in every respect similar to that of his first wife, as well as an equal number of servants, slaves, and eunuchs. This is done in order not to excite jealousy. "These difficult and costly conditions always tended to discourage the reckless contracting of marriages and of recent years the scarcity of weddings has become a serious question. Complaints have frequently been made before the authorities, but under the old regime inothing radical in the way of amendment could be done, as every attempt at reform was considered to be a political crime." The present Sheik-ul-Islam has abolished all the impositions of expensive marriage formalities and reduced the whole transaction to its simplest forms. Henceforward there will be no obligation on the part of the bridegroom to pay to the parents of his future wife any money for the furnishing of the nuptial chamber. No costly presents will have to be sent, no extravagant expenses to be met in connection with any of the marriage festivities. The price of the nikiah as an indemnity in case of divorce has been fixed at only 101 piastres (about £1). The Shcik-ul Islam has of course foreseen that parents will raise ob- l jections to this simplification of the !

"Should the husband subsequently intend to send his wife away or to divorce her, he must pay to her a sum of money derided upon at. this nikiah—a sum varying; from £lO to £IOOO or more. It is natural that the parents should try to fix this sum at as high a figure as possible, in order to safeguard their daughter from the possible caprice and arbitrariness of their son-in-law.

marriage rite, and will in consequence put obstacles in the way of wedding celebrations. He has therefore decreed that young people who are of age need not have the consent of the parents, as that consent is not enjoined by the sacred writings of the Sheriat.