Saudi Gazette report

SUPPORTERS of mass weddings organized in open and public spaces in Saudi Arabia have always described their organization as something highly commendable. A mass wedding, or collective wedding, is a marriage ceremony where several couples get married at the same time. However, some observers have identified certain negative aspects of the tradition and have called for at least shifting the venue of such events to proper wedding halls or other enclosed premises.

Over the past 27 years, more than 30,000 young men and women have tied the knot in mass wedding ceremonies organized in the cities and towns of Al-Ahsa governorate in eastern Saudi Arabia. Similar events have been taking place in many other cities of the country.

The people of Madinah celebrated on Monday the wedding of 504 Saudi men and women in a mass ceremony. Al-Mawaddah Team organized the event under the supervision of Al-Kholas Charity Society.

The Society for Marriage and Family Guidance in Jeddah, with the support of the Makkah emirate and the city's governorate, organizes a mass wedding ceremony every year. The society also makes arrangements to gift the couples essential household items and other assistance for starting new lives. Last year the program helped 200 low-income brides and grooms in the city marry by providing them with financial aid to build stable families. In August 2016, Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal sponsored a mass wedding ceremony for 1,400 men and women at the Jeddah Center for Forums and Events.

In June 2006, more than 800 couples were married in Saudi Arabia’s first mass wedding organized and paid for by the government under the auspices of then Emir of Riyadh and now Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to help young couples who otherwise would not have been able to afford it. The newly weds were also presented with gifts by the government including a two-day honeymoon, gold for the bride and household appliances like fridges and cookers.

At a mass wedding in Al-Ahsa in June 2015, two Saudi brides who demanded the lowest dowry from their future husbands were rewarded with a cash prize of SR15,000 each. The grooms accepted the cash award on behalf of their brides at the function. The youngest groom who received the lowest dowry at the function was a man with special needs.

(Islamic law requires the groom to pay a dowry, or mahar, as a gift in cash or kind to his future wife at the time of the wedding. Though the religion does not set a maximum or minimum limit for the dowry, the average dowry in middle-class families is SR30,000, but it can reach hundreds of thousands of riyals for the wealthy. The bride's family often uses the money to cover wedding expenses or to furnish the couple's new house.)

While speaking to Al-Watan newspaper recently, the head of wedding festival organizing committee in Al-Ahsa, Abdullah Al-Mishal, has rejected outright calls for transferring the venue of mass weddings from open areas to wedding halls. He insists that holding the celebrations in outdoor venues has many advantages and positive aspects, the most important of which is the opportunity for a large number of local people to take part.

Additionally, many young people get a chance to display their artistic talents and organizational skills by volunteering to decorate the venue and make other arrangements, which in turn brings down the costs of the weddings.

Sociologist Dr. Ahmed Al-Loiami, a faculty member at King Faisal University, said outdoor weddings represent a marked shift in societal thinking. In fact, collective weddings are a way of adapting to changing circumstances. He pointed out that the transition was primarily aimed at cutting costs.

However, the collective wedding tradition that has taken root in A-Ahsa over the decades was not in response to the economic demands alone. A member of the municipal council in Al-Ahsa, Ali Al-Sultan, called for continuing the tradition because they bring people of the town closer together and encourage the service mentality among the public by attracting the largest number of volunteers possible. He said these kinds of celebrations require the services of many volunteers for them to succeed.

Al-Sultan said the collective weddings have become a training center for talent and capacity development, with many young people getting introduced to volunteer work and community partnership. He all members of society including the young and old, men and women, and the rich and poor all contribute to the organization of mass wedding festivals in whatever way they can.

Al-Sultan asked to the organizers of collective weddings to take advantage of the sports clubs to reduce the costs of preparing the venues.

Hassan Al-Kuwaiti, a member of the collective wedding planning committee, criticized the calls for shifting the venue of the weddings to closed halls.

He stressed that is a joyful mass celebration reflected a lot of social values.

In March this year, five cities and towns in Al-Ahsa organized collective weddings during which a total of 148 young men and women tied the knot. These included 25 couples in Al-Mnazlyiah, 19 in Al-Jafar, 14 in Al-Mansoura, 9 in Al-Dalwah and 7 in Al-Markaz.

Similar mass weddings were held in six other towns and cities of the governorate the previous month. Two more celebrations were scheduled to take place in the region after the Eid Al-Fitr.