Arab Wedding - Katb El-Kitab

Katb El-Kitab

Katb el-Kitab/Marriage Contract is the official marriage ceremony. It starts with a sheikh or imam giving a short speech about how the Prophet honored his wives, how to honor women, and how women should treat their husbands and honor them. Then the imam tells the groom to heed the speech that was just given, and the father (or eldest male of the bride's family) accepts the proposal. The ceremony resembles the reading of the Fatiha, but this when the legal documents are filled out and then filed. Two witnesses, usually the eldest men in each family, sign their names to the marriage contract, and the couple is now officially married. In the Levant, the Katb el-Kitab is usually held in the house of the either the bride or the groom's families, although sometimes it may be held in the wedding hall itself, or in a mosque or in court if the couple decide to do so.