In Islam, marriage is a contract (Standard Arabic: عقد القران; Egyptian Arabic: كتب الكتاب Katb el-Ketāb; Urdu: Nikahnama) between a man and woman to live as husband and wife. A formal, binding contract is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. The marriage must be declared publicly. Divorce is permitted.

In addition to the usual marriage until death or divorce, there is a different fixed-term marriage known as Nikāḥ al-Mutʿah ("temporary marriage") permitted only by Twelvers (a branch of Shia Islam) for a pre-fixed period.

History[link]

It was a Sunnah (custom) of earlier prophets which the Islamic Prophet Muhammad re-instituted and passed on to his ummah or community. The Arabic word for marriage is nikah (Arabic: نكاح‎ nikāḥ), which is generally used to refer to Islamic marriages.

Polygamy[link]

According to the Qur'an a man may have up to four wives at any one time; the restriction on the number was not customary before the Qur'an. There are certain conditions and a warning to men in that the husband is required to treat all wives equally, if not, it is a sin. A bride-to-be may stipulate in the marriage contract her conditions such as monogamy. A woman may not have more than one husband, which is regarded as unacceptable because it could create difficulty in determination of paternity and hence responsibility of upbringing of children and inheritance.

Background[link]

The Islamic marriage is declared publicly by a responsible person after delivering a sermon to counsel and guide the couple. It is not required, though customary, that the person marrying the couple should be religiously qualified. The Qur'an tells believers that even if they are poor they should marry to protect themselves from immorality ^{[1][Quran 24:33]}. The Qur'an asserts that marriage is the only legitimate way to satisfy one's sexual desire.^[2] Islam recognizes the value of sex and companionship and advocates marriage as the foundation for families. Marriage is highly valued and regarded as being half of faith, according to a saying of Muhammad: "Marriage is my Sunnah (practice or action of the Prophet) and whoever does not follow my Sunnah is not my true follower." (Ibn Haiah, Babun Nikah).

Divorce[link]

Marriage in Islam is a contract with the standard elements of offer, acceptance and consideration, and not regarded as sacrosanct. It may be terminated by divorce subject to certain conditions, although Hadith state divorce should only be resorted to when there is no chance of reconciliation. Divorce may be instituted unilaterally by the husband by pronouncing talaq, "I divorce you" three times. There are many Hadiths requiring that talaq is not uttered sequentially three times but separated by a month between each utterance to provide opportunity for reconciliation. Majority of Islamic schools of jurisprudence (fiqh), do not regard a divorce as valid if this requirement is not followed, however others such as Hanafi discourage such practice but accept as binding if a triple talaq is said sequentially at one time.

Divorce at the behest of the wife is known as khula, or release from the marriage, it requires the consent of the husband, failing which the woman may seek a Sharia court judge (qadi) to grant the divorce if certain conditions are met and certain formalities followed. The woman is required to return the mahr (see below), usually money, given to the wife by the husband upon marriage, and compensate the husband by reimbursing him for what he provided during marriage, unless the husband is willing to forgo it, (which the qadi usually encourages) unless the woman's action or behavior has been such not to warrant it.

Dowry/Mahr[link]

Although mahr (donatio propter nuptias in Latin law) is often translated into English as dowry (as in the Quran translations below), either from translators lack of knowledge of the true English meaning, or want of a better word, a more accurate translation would be "marriage gift". Mahr is mentioned several times in the Quran. Dowry (Latin, dos) is inaccurate as strictly speaking it is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage, usually provided by her parents or family. This may be accepted after the Mahr (this is an amount that would be sufficient for the woman to be able to survive for a while if her husband dies or they get a divorce) has been paid by the man.

Quran [4:4] You shall give the women their due dowries, equitably. If they willingly forfeit anything, then you may accept it; it is rightfully yours^[3]

[5:5] Today, all good food is made lawful for you. The food of the people of the scripture is lawful for you. Also, you may marry the chaste women among the believers, as well as the chaste women among the followers of previous scripture, provided you pay them their due dowries. You shall maintain chastity, not committing adultery, nor taking secret lovers. Anyone who rejects faith, all his work will be in vain, and in the Hereafter he will be with the losers^[4]

[60:10] O you who believe, when believing women (abandon the enemy and) ask for asylum with you, you shall test them. GOD is fully aware of their belief. Once you establish that they are believers, you shall not return them to the disbelievers. They are not lawful to remain married to them, nor shall the disbelievers be allowed to marry them. Give back the dowries that the disbelievers have paid. You commit no error by marrying them, so long as you pay them their due dowries. Do not keep disbelieving wives (if they wish to join the enemy). You may ask them for the dowry you had paid, and they may ask for what they paid. This is GOD's rule; He rules among you. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise^[5]

Relationships which prohibit marriage[link]

In certain sections of the pre-Islamic Arab tradition, the son could inherit his deceased father's other wives (i.e. not his own mother) as a wife. The Qur'an prohibited this practice.

Marriage between people related in some way is subject to prohibitions based on three kinds of relationship^[6]. The following prohibitions are given from the male perspective for brevity; the analogous counterparts apply from the female perspective; e.g., for "aunt" read "uncle".

A bride signing the nikah nama (marriage certificate)

Prohibitions based on consanguinity[link]

Seven relations are prohibited because of consanguinity i.e. kinship or relationship by blood, viz. mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts and nieces (whether sister's or brother's daughters). In this case, no distinction is made between full and half relations, both being equally prohibited. Distinction is however made with step relations i.e. where both the biological mother and father of a couple wishing to marry are separate individuals for both parties, in which case it is permitted. The word "mother" also connotes the "father’s mother" and "mother’s mother" all the way up. Likewise the word "daughter" also includes the "son’s daughter" and "daughter’s daughter" all the way down. The sister of the maternal grandfather and of the paternal grandmother (great aunts) are also included on equal basis in the application of the directive.^[7]

Prohibitions based on suckling[link]

Marriage to what are sometimes described as foster relations in English are permitted, although the concept is not the same as implied by the English word. The relationship is that formed by suckling from the breast of a wet nurse, this is what is meant by "fosterage" in Islam as in the quotation below. In this case the infant is regarded in Islam as having the same degree of affinity as in consanguinity and therefore prohibited in marriage when he grows up to those related to the wet nurse by the same degree as if to his own mother.

Hadith reports confirm that fosterage does not happen by a chance suckling, it refers to the first two years of a child's life before it is weaned ^{[8][9][10][11]} Islahi writes that "this relationship is established only with the full intent of those involved. It only comes into being after it is planned and is well thought of" ^[12]

Prohibitions based on marriage[link]

The daughter-in-law is prohibited for the father, and the mother-in-law, the wife’s daughter, the wife’s sister and daughters of the wife's siblings (nieces), the maternal and paternal aunts of the wife are all prohibited for the husband. However, these are conditional prohibitions:

1. Only the daughter of that wife is prohibited with whom one has had conjugal contact.
2. Only the daughter-in-law of a real son is prohibited.
3. The sister of a wife, her maternal and paternal aunts and her brother's or sister's daughters (nieces) are only prohibited if the wife is in wedlock with the husband.^[13]

[edit] Prohibited Marriage Partners ^[14]

• His mother
• His step-mother (this practice continues in Yoruba land in Nigeria, where in some cases the eldest son inherits the youngest wife of his father)
• His grandmother (including father's and mother's mothers and all preceding mothers e.g. great grandmothers )
• His daughter (including granddaughters and beyond )
• His sister (whether full, consanguine or uterine)
• His father's sisters (including paternal grandfather's sisters)
• His mother's sisters (including maternal grandmother's sisters)
• His brother's daughters
• His foster mother
• His foster mother's sister
• His sister's daughter
• His foster sister
• His wife's mother
• His step-daughter (i.e. a daughter by a former husband of a woman he has married if the marriage has been consummated. However, if such a marriage was not consummated, there is no prohibition)
• His real son's wife

Conditions[link]

The Qur'an outlines some conditions for a nikah to take place ^{[Quran 4:24]}:

• A nikah should be conducted through a gift – which here refers to the mahr. Once a mahr has been ascertained with the realization that it is an obligation of a Muslim husband, the groom is required to pay it to the bride at the time of marriage, however he and his bride can mutually agree to delay the time of its payment, or the wife can unilaterally decide to forgo it. In 2003 Rubya Mehdi published an article in which the culture of mahr among Muslims was thoroughly reviewed. There is no concept of dowry ^[15] as such in Islam, although mahr (donatio propter nuptias in Latin law) is often translated into English as dowry in the want of a more accurate word. "Marriage gift" is a more accurate translation (see also dower and bride price). A dowry as such is a payment to the groom from the bride's family, and is not an Islamic practice but borrowed from other religions into some Muslim cultures, notably in the Indian Sub-continent.

• Another requisite of marriage is chastity. No fornicator has the right to marry a chaste partner, except if the two purify themselves of this sin by sincere repentance.^[16][17]

• Marriage is permitted for a man with a chaste woman from the People of the Book (Arabic - Ahl al Kitab, Christians and Jews) but not to polytheists. For women, marriage to non-Muslim men is prohibited.^[18][19]

• It is customary for marriage to take place with the consent and presence of the elders of the family. There must be a solid reason for a marriage taking place without the consent of the guardians or elders of a family. In the absence of such a reason, a Muslim state has the authority to stop such a marriage from taking place ^[20] Muhammad made it clear upon the guardians through both his words and the measures he took that they must not take any decision in this regard without the woman's consent. If the woman wishes, their decision can be revoked.^[21][22] Binti Khudham says that when she became a widow, her father solemnized her marriage. She did not like the decision, so she went to Muhammad, and he gave her permission to revoke her marriage.^[23] Hence forced marriages are against Islamic teachings^[24]. However many Islamic societies consider, especially amongst the uneducated, that children must marry a partner approved of, and usually chosen by, the parents; children who defy their parents' wishes may in practice suffer penalties, supported by the community, from ostracism to honour killing^[24], but this is very rare.

Rights and obligations of spouses[link]

According to Islam, both man and woman have rights when they enter into a marriage contract ^[25] and the husband is supposed to head the family-unit ^{[Quran 4:34]}. This guardianship has two aspects for both partners:

1. The husband's financial responsibility for the welfare of his wife and any children they may produce. In return, it is the duty of the wife to be obedient with regards to how the husband's wealth should be spent. However if the wife has wealth in her own capacity she is not obliged to spend it upon the husband or children, as she can own property and assets in her own capacity, unlike some other faiths and societies where the wife and her wealth are deemed the chattel of the husband. An indication of the financial expectation from the husband is in the mahr given by him to the wife, according to the custom of the society.
2. The husband's physical and emotional strength and honour. In return, the wife is supposed to guard the secrets of her husband and to be faithful.

Several commentators have stated that the superiority of a husband over his wife is relative and the obedience of the wife is also restrictive.^[26] The Quran advises men that if they are certain of a rebellious attitude by the woman, they should first admonish her, then refuse to share beds, and finally hit her (without leaving a mark and not on the face, as established by the Hadith). This refers to serious breaches of behaviour such as being promiscuous according to renowned 20th Century scholar Muhammad Hamidullah which is not expected from a dutiful wife, and not for simple disobedience to the husband. In explaining this, Ibn Abbas gives an example of striking with a toothstick (a very tiny piece of wood, incapable of creating any pain).

Women are also reminded that in case the husband is not fulfilling his responsibilities, there is no stigma on them in seeking divorce ^{[Quran 4:128]}. The Quran re-emphasizes that justice for the woman includes emotional support, and reminds men that there can be no taking back of the gifts given to women, however if a divorce is initiated by the wife the husband can insist on the return of what he gave her in order to agree to the dissolution of the marriage. This is taken from Hadith in which the wife of Thabith bin Qais is told to return the orchard her husband gave in order to proceed with the divorce.

However, many Islamic societies restrict women's rights despite their Quranic rights; women are often mistreated and sometimes suffer penalties, supported by the community.

See also[link]

Islam portal

• Nikah mut‘ah (fixed-term marriage)
• Mahr (marriage gift or 'donatio propter nuptias'- Latin)
• Walima (marriage banquet offered by groom day after nikah)
• Talaq (unilateral divorce at behest of husband)
• Khula (dissolution of marriage at behest of wife)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nikah in Islam
• Nikah Khutbah
• Marriage in Islam
• E-Book: Marriage - A form of Ibada
• Understanding the verse of beating women in the Quran

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (Turkish pronunciation: [aʒˌda pe̞kˈkan], born February 12, 1946, in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Through a career spanning five decades thus far, Pekkan has released more than 20 albums and, with Sezen Aksu, is the most commercially successful female Turkish music artist with the sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. She is nicknamed the "Superstar" of Turkish pop music. Although famed for her music, Pekkan started her career as an actress with appearances in almost 50 films. During her music career, Pekkan has recorded songs in nine languages. Apart from Turkish, she is also fluent in English and French.

Early life[link]

Pekkan was born to Rıdvan Pekkan, an officer in the Turkish Navy, and Nevin Dobruca, a housewife. She spent her childhood at the Naval Base Gölcük in Kocaeli Province. Ajda graduated from the Çamlıca Kız Lisesi, an elite and high-profile girls' secondary school in Istanbul that had been incorporated under the Ottoman Empire. Graduates include foreign nobility and female members of the Imperial House of Osman. Language of instruction is in Turkish,French and German

Career[link]

With the help of her sister, Semiramis, she began singing at the popular Istanbul nightclub Çatı (Roof) in 1962. The following year, Pekkan won a Cover Star contest sponsored by the Turkish music magazine Ses ("Voice") and was launched on a professional career.

Between 1963 and 1967, the statuesque actress appeared in 47 films opposite popular Turkish actors, mostly in singer roles. Pekkan’s first recording, "Her Yerde Kar Var", an arrangement of Salvatore Adamo's "Tombe la Neige" by Fecri Ebcioğlu, brought her great success in 1965. In contrast to many of her contemporaries, she transited from film to music and in 1968 her record, İki Yabancı (Two Strangers), became a top seller. Pekkan’s continuing success resulted in invitations to international festivals including the Apollonia Music Festival in Athens (1968 and 1969) and the Mediterranean Song Festival in Barcelona (1969).

The success of her songs resulted in a series of Turkish-language concerts with Enrico Macias at the Paris Olympia in 1976. In acknowledgement of her nickname, Pekkan released an album called Superstar in 1977. The same year, she participated in the Yamaha Music Festival in Tokyo to great success. She released German and French records in the early 1970s, and her Pour Lui, became very successful in France. At this pinnacle, she released her second album Süperstar II in 1979.

On April 19, 1980, Pekkan represented Turkey with the entry "Petr'Oil" at the Eurovision Song Contest in Den Haag, the Netherlands.^[1] She then decided to take a break and temporarily moved to the USA. After returning to Turkey, she recorded two failed albums, Sen Mutlu Ol (You be happy) and Sevdim Seni (I Loved You) in the then current trend of Turkish music, but returned to her original type of Western pop and gave concerts in 1983 with enormous success. That same year, she released Süperstar III which she followed with Süperstar IV (1987). Superstar III was a huge success; coincidentally, it is her only album that is not available on CD. However, Superstar IV wasn't succeeded as Superstar III. It was last album on LP. She married with Mehmet Ali Bars, who is a businessman, in 1984 and divorced in 1990.

In late 1989, she began working on her an album with famous Turkish musicians including Fuat Güner from MFÖ (the band which represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1985 and 1988), Şehrazat, and Metin Özülkü. The album, simply titled Ajda 1990 signalled a new breakthrough for Pekkan, with sales of over a million. With the success of this official debut album (and also the first on CD), she immediately began working on her next album.

In 1991, she released Seni Seçtim (I Choose You), to even greater success. Hits like "Sevgide Seni Seçtim" ("I Choose You For Love"), "Eline Gözüne Dizine Dursun" ("Shame on You"), "Vazgeçme" ("Don’t Give Up"), she topped all the charts in Turkey.

In 1993, she released Ajda ‘93 which she recorded this album in Switzerland, Turkey and United States. She worked with Atilla Şereftuğ on this album, a famous Turkish musician who had written the Eurovision ’88-winning song "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" ("Don’t Leave Without Me") for Celine Dion. The hits of the album were Sarıl Bana (Give Me a Hug), Oyalama Beni (Don't Occupy Me), Eyvah (Alas!) and Ağlama Anne (Don't Cry Mommy).

After many successful albums she decided to release a best of album, and in September 1998, she released The Best of Ajda. Two years later, in 2000, Pekkan released another studio album, simply called Diva and enjoyed sales of over two million copies.

In 2001, she started performing in an Istanbul club Catwalk and her performances were all sold out, with the help of an eager audience looking forward to see "the superstar" after a three year hiatus. The performances were so successful that Pekkan postponed closing the show by about six months.

In 2002, she also began making a movie called Şöhret Sandalı (Boat of Fame). After several years of financial setbacks, it was released in 2006.

In the summer 2003, she released her single Sen İste (Just Want It), written by her friend Şehrazat, the popular songwriter. Six years later,in August 2006, Pekkan released her latest album Cool Kadın (Cool Woman). This album produced the number one dance hit single Vitrin and a funky disco beat called "Amazon". During the first six months over 800.000 copies of Cool Kadın was sold just in Turkey.

In the summer 2007 she began a completely sold out concert series called Ajda goes Disco performing her songs in disco rhythms with Turkey's most famous DJs live on stage. After that, Pekkan quickly began to work on a new studio album, recording it in Turkey. The album "Aynen Oyle" was released in Turkey, German and USA on July 23, 2008. To promote it, Pekkan began touring in Turkey where she performed two new songs "Flu Gibi" and "Gerisi Hikaye" from the album.

Discography[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2010)

Ümit Besen (born 1956, Osmaniye, Turkey) represents the darker side of Tarabya school of electronic music. He started his professional career with playing keyboards and singing with his band at the local clubs in Adana, Southern Turkey. While he was in the army for his obligatory service a brigadier-general (Brigadier in Commonwealth armies) liked his style and appointed him with the task of singing at the officers tavern.^[1]

1980s and rising popularity[link]

After the completion of his 18 months service he returned to Adana. While singing and playing to make his living one day Turkish football legend Metin Oktay visited the club he was working at. Amazed by the power of his voice and his knowledge of synthesizers, Metin Oktay recommended him to his club owner friends in Istanbul.

In Istanbul he kept playing at famous clubs and finally he was teamed up with songwriters Selami Şahin and Ahmet Selçuk İlkan to record his first LP. The result was not only a commercial success.

Ümit Besen today[link]

Although not being as famous as he was in the 80s, Ümit is probably one of the best known artist to come from the legendary Tarabya scene, only second to Cengiz Kurtoğlu if not the best known. Today he performs at Yeni Mercan club in Yenikapı (A borough in Fatih district), İstanbul.

Albums[link]

• Şikayetim Var (1980)
• Islak mendil (1981)
• Bayramın Olsun (1982)
• İkimizin Yerine (1982)
• Dostlar Sağolsun (1983)
• Yıkılan Gurur (1984)
• Bir Akşam Üstü (1984)
• Vazgeçtim Senden (1985)
• I Love You (1986)
• Deli Gönlüm (1987)
• Halk Konseri 1 (1987)
• Aşk Burcu (1988)
• Müzikli Bir Masal (1989)
• Bir Tanesin Sen (1990)
• Son Şarkı (1991)
• Gökkuşağı (1992)
• İkimiz De Sevdik (1993)
• Görüşürüz (1994)
• Yalnız Kaldım (1995)
• Yağmur Var Gözlerimde (1996)
• Hadi Git (1997)
• Nostalji (1998)
• Bizim Hikayemiz (2000)
• Dokunsalar Ağlarım (2001)
• O Gece (2003)
• Ben Bu Gece Ölmezsem (2006)
• İyi Günde Kötü Günde (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website

This article on a Turkish singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Abu Usamah at-Thahabi (born March 10, 1964) is an Imam at Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, England.

History[link]

Abu Usamah, Khalifah At-Thahabi, born Frankie Lipscomb, was born and raised in Passaic, New Jersey, the third eldest of four children. His siblings names include Kimberly, Sylvia, and also Daryl.

He reverted to Islam in 1986, and applied to attend the University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, an Islamic school popular with reverts and international students. He attended the university for eight years where he graduated from the College of Da'wah and Usool-ad-Din. There he completed his BSc in Usool-Ul-Deen(theology) and learned the Arabic language. After his graduation from the University, Abu Usamah went to teach in the UK before returning to the US in 1996 in order to pursue his first position of Imam in Orlando, Florida. He was an imam at mosques in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Peoria. Abu Usamah is very engaged in the Islamic community. He has also be immensely active in the giving of da'wah within the Islamic community.

References[link]

Raja Farah Binti Raja Aziz (born 5 July 1988), is a Malaysian actress and model. She was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is the third child of four siblings. She is a Raja Jembal descendant from Kelantan. Farah received her education in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, Seksyen 18, Shah Alam, Selangor.

She became a TV advertising model at 13 years old. Her first TV commercial was Beras Floral. Her exotic face became the choice of the advertising business. She has acted and become a model in many commercial TV advertising such as Vanilla Coke, Eveready, Johnson & Johnson, Celcom and F&N Orange.

She began to become involved in acting on 2003, through a sitcom series, Ah Ha, with Harith Iskandar and Afdlin Shauki. Farah try her talent as the TV host and got a chance to become the host in TV programme like MangoTV, Game Time, VoiceOut and Suara Emas Bintang RTM 2007

Filmography[link]

• Salon (3 November 2005)
• Akuarium Cinta
• Anak Halal
• Apa Kata Hati
• Maut
• Haq
• Romance
• Merempuh Karma

Television series[link]

• Intan Asmara (TV3)
• Misi XX-Ray (TV3)
• Pesona Bintang Tujuh
• Manjalara
• Durani
• Ellie
• Gadis Dari Bintang
• Mertua VS. Menantu

External links[link]

• Malay Mail Article
• EPG. Bowling buat minda Farah tenang