BHOPAL: Due to the ongoing lockdown necessitated to contain the spread of coronavirus, hundreds of nikahs (marriages) have been postponed across Madhya Pradesh, including cities and towns such as Bhopal, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Ujjain and Indore which house sizeable Muslim population.
The Guna district of the central Indian state, however, has emerged as the trendsetter for other districts by solemnizing online nikahs.
So far, 16 online nikahs have been solemnized by the Qazi in Guna town with the latest nikah being solemnized between a daily wager groom living in Guna town and the bride living 35 km away in Raghogarh town of the same district on Friday.
According to Qazi of Guna town Nurullah Yusufzai, “Around 600 nikahs, which were slated to be solemnized during the lockdown period, have been postponed for six months. But 16 families, who wanted to conduct the wedding of their sons and daughters have taken to the online route for the nikahs.”
Just like the conventional marriage, online nikah too requires witnesses and a vakeel (vakeel acts as authorized guardian of the bride who gives consent on her behalf for the nikah to the groom).
“In the online nikah, both the sides have to present two witnesses. There are four sides involved in the video call to solemnize the nikah, including the bride and witnesses, her vakeel, the groom and witnesses and the Qazi,” he said.
“After the bride gives her consent for the nikah through the vakeel, I complete the process of nikah with the mandatory rituals and the paperwork at my end,” the Qazi of Guna said.
“If the quality of the network and internet connections is good then an online nikah could be solemnized within half an hour,” he maintained.
“In the 16 online nikahs solemnized so far, at least six to eight families are affluent families, while four to five are middle-class families. These online marriages have been solemnized between bride and grooms living in Guna and adjoining Rajgarh, Ashok Nagar, and Shivpuri districts,” the Qazi added.