CHAPTER V FAMILY. MARRIAGE AND RITUALS In this chapter we propose to examine the nature of family marriage and associated rituals as they exist among the Muslims of Ahmadnagar particularly among the non-Ashraf castes. Section I Marriage inagurates family life. 'Family is the most fundamental and universal of all institutions.' It is the primary unit and permanent institution of human society. Family is the basic pillar on which every society operates. It is the main agency in socializing and upbring­ ing of children. It carries religion, traditions, customs, values, culture to the next generation. 'The family is not only the cradle of our future society but it is also the 2 hub of social life for most people. ' One of the dominant features of traditional Hindu society is the joint family system. India has a long heritage of joint family system. It has endured since time immemorial. •Even about 1000 B.C., in the time of Mahabharata war, the 3 joint family existed more or less as it exists today.' The Indian joint family can generally be characterised fs patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal in nature. In South 161 162 India, particularly in Kerala, matrilineal and matrilocal kind of family exists. Karve defines joint family as 'a group of people who generally live under one roof, who eat food cooked in one kitchen, who hold property in common, participate in common family worship and are related to one another as some particular type of kindred.' The advent of Britishers was crucial to Indian Social Institutions. They introduced the industrial revolution and Western technology along with their ideology of justice, equality and freedom. This had great impact on joint family organization and it gradually started undergoing change to nuclear family. Desai observes that 'the concept of nuclear family is a cultural borrowing from the West.'^ The nuclear family can be defined 'as a group of husband, wife and non- adult children living together in a house and eating together.' It is a small compact group. Sometimes there is a possibility of one or more persons residing with them. Many studies have revealed that both these types of families exist in India. Family Organization among Muslims in India Levy observes that 'the theory of Islam, ... regards the empire of Islam as a theocracy, in which Allah as supreme ruler is also the only law giver. Muhammad the Prophet was the agent through whom believers were made aware 163 of the divine laws, which were explicitly or implicitly- embodied in the Koran and his (the Prophet's) Sunna - the sum total of his ordinary doings and sayings. Upon them in turn the shar or sharia is, by hypothesis, founded.' 7* The religious, social and personal life of Muslims through­ out the Islamic world is governed by sharia. The institu­ tions of family and marriage among the Muslims are governed by the same law. 'The literature about kinship and family among the Muslims is so scant that there is an almost total lack of empirical findings and theoretical formulations on the g subject.' However, the meagre literature and empirical data available on the subject will help us to throw some light on family and kinship organization among Muslims. In pre-Islamic Arab society patriarchal family system existed. 'Kinship being recognized on the fathers side, all obligations, duties and rights were defined and sanctioned in Q terms of agnatic kinship.' The Prophet Muhammad introduced the new faith of monotheistic religion. Though Muslim institutions have undergone change owing to the conditions in different regions during the centuries of their existence, the family institution more or less remained unchanged. Muslim family organization in India is quite similar to that of Hindu family organization in spite of religious * Besides Quran and Sunna two other sources are Ijma, that is, consensus of the community and Qiyas, that is, reasoning by analogy. 164 differences and history. Kapadia observes that 'the joint- family is generally supposed to be a characteristic peculiar to the Hindus. As a matter of fact, it seems to be general in India, as it is found among many communities, non-Hindu as well as Hindu.' The Muslim family can be characterized as patriarchal, patrilocal and patrilineal type. 'The family organization among the Muslim communities in Gujarat appears parallel to the Hindus in the sense that the same type of patrilocal, patrilineal family system prevails in both.* Misra further observes that 'the common form of living was in the form of large households which included several married and unmarried brothers and their other relatives, living under the same roof, presided over by the father.' 12 Conklin's study reveals that 'both the Muslim popula­ tion and the non-Muslim families that believe that joint living is the ideal.' 13 He further points out that even the household composition among the Muslims is not much different to those of Hindus. Rizvi's study also points out that the joint living is preferred among the Karkhanedar community of Delhi. The Karkhanedar is a patrilineal and patrilocal community. •Among the Karkhanedars married brothers normally pull their income from a Karkhana, ... and household expenses are met 14 from a common fund.' 165 It is clear from the foregoing brief discussion that the family organization among the Indian Muslims is quite similar to that of Hindu family organization. 5.2 Family Organization among the Muslims of Ahmadnagar Any inquiry on the family organization must have precise definitions of its types. For the present study we have used the following definitions to classify Muslim families. I - Nuclear Family A. Husband, wife with or without children. Ross has called this type as nuclear family of two 15 generations (Type C). B. Husband, more than one wife with children. C. Husband, wife, children with father or mother or both. Ross has called this type as nuclear family with dependents. (Type D). D. Husband, wife, children, parents plus unmarried brothers and sisters. II - Joint Family : We have classified joint family into three types : 1. Horizontal joint family. 2. Large joint family. 3. Vertical joint family. 166 1. Horizontal Joint Family consists of A. Husband, wife, children, parents, married brother(s) and their wife/wives, their children plus unmarried brothers and sisters. B. Husband, wife, children, father or mother, married brother(s), their wife/wives, their children plus unmarried brothers. Kapadia has called these types as collateral joint family. 17 C. We have included families with female head in this category. In this type female with married son(s), their wife/wives and children are included. 2. Large Joint Family This type includes husband, wife, married son(s), their wife/wives-, their children, husbands married brother(s), their wife/wives and their children. 3. Vertical Joint Family A. This type includes husband, wife, married son(s), their wife/wives and their children. This type includes three generations. Ross has called this type as 'the large 1& joint family'. (Type A), and Desai has called it as 'three generation groups of lineal descents'. (Type III), B. Husband, wife, children, married son(s), their wife/ wives and their children. Karve has called this type as 'smaller joint families'.20 This type also includes three generations as mentioned above but it has in 167 addition unmarried children. Kapadia has called these 21 types as lineally joint family. Ill - Broken or Individual Householder : This type includes husband or wife dead with or without children. Size of Households The basic unit of the kinship system among the Ahmadnagar Muslims is the household. Households vary widely in their numerical composition. Table 5.1 : Numerical Size of Muslim Households in Ahmadnagar No.of Persons No.of Per cent per Household Households 2 - 3 29 11.37 4 - 6 126 49.41 7-9 61 23.92 10 - 14 28 10.9$ 15 - 19 5 1.96 20 and above 6 2.35 Total : 255 100.00 Table 5.1 shows the distribution of Muslim households in Ahmadnagar. In our purposive sample 255 families, there is a considerable range from two to twenty or more members per household. 49.41 per cent households have between four 163 to six persons, followed by 23.92 per cent households having between seven to nine persons. The maximum number of members in a household was 36. Family Types As per our definitions given earlier, Table 5.2 indicates, out of 255 families surveyed, 70.59 per cent were nuclear families, 7.#4 per cent were horizontal joint families, 15.69 per cent belonged to vertical joint family and 4.31 per cent were broken or individual households. If we sum up the classification of joint families into one single class, we get total 25.10 per cent joint families. Table 5.2 : Family Types - Number and Percentage Family Type No.of Families Per cent Nuclear Family ISO 70.59 Horizontal Joint Family 20 7.84 Large Joint Family 4 1.57 Vertical Joint Family ko 15.69 Broken or Individual Householder 11 4.31 Total : 255 100.00 Same result has been drawn from the study of Muslim 22 families in Jaipur City, conducted by Jain. In her findings out of 375 families, 6o.S-per cent were nuclear 169 families and 39.2 per cent were joint families. The similar family composition has been drawn from the study of rural 23 and urban Muslims of Dharwar, Karnataka by Conklin. ' He observes that Muslim household composition in city and villages are not different as compared to Hindus. Our findings clearly indicate that family organization among Muslims of Ahmadnagar are quite similar to that of Hindu family organization. This view is also supported by the findings of Conklin who states that, 'Muslims appear quite similar to Hindus in many respects in relation to family and 24 kinship.» Though the family organization among Muslims in Ahmadnagar are similar to Hindu family organization, it appears from our data that nuclear households have large units, i.e., 4-6 members per household.