Hyderabad: The Telangana Waqf Board chairman Mohammed Saleem has convened a meeting of the city’s qazis and their representatives to discuss growing incidents of divorce in the state, excess nikah fees and late night feast in marriages.
In the meeting, it was decided not to take excess fees for nikah ceremonies. The qazi association was told to inform its member not to collect excess fees for nikah. They must only collect Rs 1800 from the groom and Rs.1200 from the bride for their service.
Saleem said that collecting excess nikah fees will tarnish the reputation of qazis. The qazi association, however, informed him that they waive off their fee in case of poor families and collective nikah ceremonies.
The wakf chairman also requested the qazi association to inform all their members to discourage growing trend of divorce in the society and instead they must try to counsel the couples. Whenever any couple approaches any qazi for divorce, they must try to talk to them to iron out their differences in order to save their marriages. They must advise the conflicting couples not to take any hasty decision to end their alliances.
The meeting also discussed the trend of late night nikah and feast. The nikah ceremony starts at 11 o’clock in the night and the feast continuous till wee hours. The qazis must ensure that the nikah takes place immediately after Isha prayer and the feast ends by 12 o’clock in the night.
The wakf board chairman also told the qazi to work to end dowry and other un-Islamic practices in marriage ceremonies.
Those who attended the meeting include Qazi Mir Qadir Ali, Qazi Habib Ahmed Salem, Qazi Amir, Qazi Syed Shah Nurulasfiya, District Minority Welfare Officer Hyderabad Mohammad Qasim and other Wakf Board officials.
It was also decided to convene another meeting after Muharram.