Daily Nation-Nairobi-Kenya
News
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Islamic leader urges end to dowry
By NATION Reporter
Africans and Arabs have been asked to scrap dowry in marriage as it has been commercialised.
Sheikh Ali Shee, the chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, said the practice hinders efforts to raise the status of women.
Traditionally, he said, dowry was meant to strengthen the bond between families but had become a price tag on women.
Sheikh Shee said Kenyans were selling women instead of using dowry to build a strong bond between the brides' and the bridegrooms' families.
He said: "Many Western countries have scrapped dowry or bride price during marriage. Asia, which has been rigid in relinquishing the practice, is slowly softening and may soon follow the example of the West. "
He called on the Muslim community to stick to the teachings of the Koran that a bride should only receive gifts from the bridegroom with no money or valuables being given to her family.
The Islamic leader was addressing a conference on Women's Status and Rights in Islam at Mombasa's Reef Beach Hotel yesterday.
The four-day meeting, which brought together delegates from all over the country, was organised by the council and the United Nations Population Fund.
Sheikh Shee said dowry contributed to gender inequality and subjected women to suffering because some men treated their wives like their servants.
"Women's prices are being discussed before marriage as if they are chattels. This turns them into servants and slaves." He called for a campaign to discourage the practice and challenged the media and gender activists to set the pace.
The Islamic leader said the Koran did not sanction mistreatment of women and expressed regret that Muslims were hiding behind the holy book to violate the rights of women. He said Islamic scriptures guaranteed women's rights.
Another imam, Sheikh Nassor Khamis, said female circumcision was against the teachings of the Koran but some Muslims practised it as part of their customs.
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