One of the rituals and superstitions linked with Nikah is the ritual of ‘manjha’ ceremony. This custom has permeated into Muslim society from the strangers and has nothing to do with Islam. Apparently we feel that there is no un-Islamic affair in the manjha function hence there is no harm in doing this ritual. But infact the community from which we have adopted this ritual has a specific purpose for performing that ritual and their superstitions have central place in it.
Doing makeup of the prospective bride days before the wedding had been started among Muslims only after they settled in India however doing makeup of the bride at the time of ‘vidai’ traces back to Prophet’s era. But bride undergoing manjha ceremony for odd number of days and the rituals carried out during this are totally un-Islamic.
Not only the girl but the guests also wear yellow dress and the girl is anointed with turmeric paste and chiksa. Only those women take part in the festivity, whose husbands are alive and have children. A specific terminology is used in Indian subcontinent, for women having husbands, that is “suhagan”.
During all these rituals even the shadow of the widow on the bride is assumed ill-omened. While in Islam there is no discrimination between a married and a widow woman and widowhood is neither a blot nor ill-omened. These superstitions are adopted by us from our non Muslim brethren.
We forget that prophet Mohammad (pbuh) has prohibited adopting such rituals and customs which have become the identity of a particular religion or culture.
During manjha ceremony another ritual also takes place called ‘godh bharai ki rasam’ in which relatives of the bride put various stuffs in the bride’s lap. This is also purely un-Islamic and based on superstitions, which cannot be permitted regarding it as regional tradition.
We are more scared of the creations than the Creator and think that if we do not follow the rituals which are continued generations after generations, the married life of the couple would land up in trouble.
It is also necessary to clarify here that we assume few particular days as inauspicious and avoid doing Nikah ceremony during those days despite the fact that Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) stated that every day is Allah’s day and no day is inauspicious.
Ather Moin