What may seem different here is the fact that both the bride and the groom are sitting across the table from each other, and not behind a veil or curtain as in most Muslim weddings. But what really sets this wedding of Lucknow’s Naish Hasan and New Delhi’s Imran Ali apart is the fact that the nikah was performed by a woman.

Ushering in a new trend and breaking all traditional barriers, the wedding of two eminent social activists working for the rights of Muslim women was performed by eminent scholar and member of the Union Planning Commission Dr Syeda Hameed. Dr Hameed flew in from Delhi especially to perform the nikah and bless the couple. Although there has been no precedent of women conducting a nikah in recent history, women are known to have attained the position of qazi and mufti in times of the Prophet.

“I always wanted a wedding which did follow the proper guidelines of Islam and the Shariat but gave equal rights to Muslim women. The model nikahnama has been supporting Muslim women by giving them rights and I wanted my wedding to be according to it,” said Naish, founder member of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), a social organisation.

When Naish spoke about it to Ali, who also works for the rights of Muslim women, he readily agreed. “I knew that through this move of ours, we could actually lead a number of youngsters to follow. We are not doing anything un-Islamic,” Ali said.

The nikah turned out to be a trendsetter in more ways than one. While the bride and the groom were Sunnis, Dr Hameed who conducted the nikah was Shia. Also, the four witnesses to the wedding were women. The nikah was performed following the model nikahnama, framed by the BMMA recently at New Delhi, after discussions over the past two years.

“According to the Shariat, anyone who is well versed in the Quran and is also a scholar of Arabic and Persian can perform the nikah. No degree or any other qualification is required to perform the nikah,” said Naaz Raza, the state coordinator of BMMA. “And our nikahnama gives rights to both the Shia and the Sunni women,” added Raza.

The wedding ceremony was performed in a simple manner. No baraat, no lavish expenditure and no ruksati.

The marriage has recieved appreciation from the chairperson of the All India Muslim Women’s Personal Law Board Shaista Amber. “Although they have not followed our model nikahnama and have instead created another one, yet I appreciate this step taken by Naish and Ali. They are certainly not violating any rules or rebelling against the religion. Instead, they are just setting a new trend that may be followed by a number of Muslim youngsters and help in curbing evils like dowry in the long run.”