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.”