Lesson No. 19 - Two Wedding Ceremonies

Two Wedding Ceremonies

Farah looked out of the car window. The entire front of the house was illuminated with colourful lights and tube lights were erected all along the pathway. Rows of Cars on both sides of the road, extending a furlong away form the main gate, made it much easier to find the house, and Farah's father did not lose his way at all.

After alighting from the car, they walked down the road and reached the gate. The male hosts were standing ready to receive their guests. The Barat had not yet arrived and young men with garlands and flowers were lining the pathway on both sides. Near the house itself, rows of young girls dressed in gold and solver and bright eye catching colours, holding flower petals in 0baskets, were waiting for the Barat.

Soon the Barat arrived. Each woman was loaded with Jewellery around her neck, on her head, in her ears, on forearms and fingers.

Farah started feeling uncomfortable. She looked around to find a quit corner but all the seats except the one next to her had been taken. There were over five hundred men, women and children gathered for that wedding. She saw a young woman coming to sit next to her. The women was dressed simply. She instantly began taking to Farah and asked her where she had come from.

Farah told her that she was born and brought up abroad come to Pakistan for the first time in her life. Her mother had died when she was three and her father had sent her to a private residential School. He had however taken the responsibility of her religious education himself. On completing, High School, she had decided to visit Pakistan, the birth place of her father. The young lady inquired whether she had seen display of the dowry. Farah said that she hadn’t." Tell me what is given as dowry and why? Farah asked the lady.

"Oh well Said the woman, Silk dresses, sets of jeweler, pairs of shoes and sets of bed linen and a fully furnished house with a car." The lady explained the dowry items that had just been display.
"Has the groom so much money to be able to buy all this?"Farah asked “No! No! You've got it all wrong," The lady clarified." The bride's parent have given their daughter all this so that she might live comfortably and have no financial problems after marriage.”Farah was surprised. It took her sometime to compose herself. Then she asked very quietly, "Is this what all parents of the bride have to give to their daughters? The young woman told her that only rich people could give all these to their daughters.

Farah shut her eyes and rested her head on the back of the chair, "Alas! If people {SAWW} married his daughter Hazrat Fatima {RA} to Hazrat Ali {RA}.How simple, sacred and holy the ceremony must have looked,” she thought to herself.

The gathering must have consisted of only close relatives and dear friends. She had read in her Islamic history that the groom had sold his armor to purchase some essentials of daily use, like a prayer mat, a grinding stone, a sleeping mat, a pitcher for water, some cooking utensils and a pair of clothes for the bride. The Holy Prophet (SAWW) had entertained his guests with dates and milk. After the Nikah Ceremony, the Holy Prophet (SAWW) had addressed his daughter thus, "Fatima, remember, never leave the house without your husband's consent". And to Hazrat Ali (RA) he said, "treat your wife with love and care and be not harsh, for harshness destroys matrimonial bliss". Saying this, he had allowed them to go their home.

Farah was not happy at all on this grand show. She wished that instead of wasting it on pomp and show, the Muslims would spend their money for the benefit of the poor and the needy. They should take steps to spread knowledge and wipe out ignorance and do something to relieve the pain of the ailing and the disables. They should support the orphans, widows and prisoners of war with the wealth that Allah had made them guardians of.

Farah was convinced that if all the Muslims followed the model presented by the Holy Prophet (SAWW) and spent their wealth in doing good to the cause of humanity and Islam; this land could progress and prosper well.

Words - Meaning
Illuminate - throw light on
Inquire - as to be told
Compose - put ideas in literary form
Convince - realize
Display - Show
Dowry - property/money brought by a bride
Bliss - great joy
Consent - give agreement
Ail - trouble

EXERCISES

Q: 1 Use these words in your own sentences.

Illuminated, extending, inquired, compose, convinced, display, dowry, consent, bliss

Illuminated

The house was illuminated with lights.
Extending

Rows of cars on both sides of the road, extending a furlong away from the main gate.
Inquired

They inquired about his patient's health.
Compose

He is composing a new message in a word processor.
Convinced

We are convinced of his guilt.
Display

Do not display your weaknesses on others.
Dowry

Dowry is an amount of money or property given in some societies by a bride's family to her bridegroom or his family when she marries.
Consent

As soon as they met Ali, the girl’s parents consented to the marriage.
Ail

The government is trying to recover the ailing industry of the country.
Bliss

It was bliss to have a day at home.

Q: 2 Pronunciations and Spelling:

In some words © is pronounced as (k) before a/o/u

Can, come, congregation, consent, Cot, country, consistency, camp, Cut, community, complex, confide, Cultivate, contact, car, compose, Consult, curtain, candle, commodities

In other words © is pronounced (s)

City, cereal, cylinder, Cycle, celebrate, cyclone, Century, cell, cynic

Q: 3 Answer the following questions:

i) Where was Farah born and bred?
Ans: Farah was born and bred abroad.
ii) Who took the responsibility of her religious education?
Ans: Her father took the responsibility of her religious education.
iii) Why was she surprised and displeased with the ceremony?
Ans: She was surprised to see the display of wealth and displeased to see how it was against the Islamic values.
iv) Compare and contrast the two wedding ceremonies described?
Ans: The present marriage ceremony was a show of wealth and monetary values whereas the other ceremony was simple, sacred and holy.

Q: 4(a) Give the contracted forms of the following words e.g. I am, I'm.

i) I am, I was not, I did not
I'm, I wasn't, I didn't

ii) You are, You could not, You must not
You're, You couldn't, You mustn't

iii) We are, We will not, We have not
We're, We won't, We haven't

iv) They are, They should not, They ought not
They're, They shouldn't, They oughtn't

Q: 4(b) Construct sentences with the following expressions:

Hard and fast

This school has hard and fast rules to govern the behaviour of its students.
By and large

He is by and large a thorough gentleman.
Ups and downs

I have seen many ups and downs in life.
Heaven and earth

I shall move heaven and earth to help you.
Black and white

He gave his explanation in black and white.

Q:5 Choose one word from the list and fill in the blanks.

Heir, graduate, catastrophe, charwoman, guest, acquaintance, play, draper, astrologer, geologist

i) A scene or even performed on a stage is a play.
ii) A person who succeeds another in the possession of title or property is an heir.
iii) A great and sudden misfortune is a catastrophe.
iv) A person who is entertained at one's home is a guest.
v) A person whom one knows casually is a acquaintance.
vi) A person who holds a university degree is a graduate.
vii) A person who studies the influence of stars on human beings is an astrologer.
viii) A woman employed to clean out offices or houses is a cleaver-women.
ix) A person who deals in clothes and other fashions is a draper.
x) A person who studies rocks is a geologist.

Q:6(a) Re-write each sentence inserting an adverbs in the appropriate position.
Example: He could (hardly) keep awake.

i) He could complete his work. (hardly)
Ans: He could hardly complete his work.
ii) They are a snobbish couple. (very)
Ans: They are a very snobbish couple.
iii) His father lost his temper. (almost)
Ans: His father almost lost his temper.
iv) The test must have been very easy, the weakest students passed. (even)
Ans: The test must have been very easy, even the weakest students passed.
v) I think he is frightened, not hurt. (only)
Ans: I think he is only frightened, not hurt.

Q:6(b) Supply the correct tense (Present, Past, or Past Pe,fect):
Example: She (go) away every week-end.
She goes away every week end.

i) He (go) abroad last week.
Ans: He went abroad last week.
ii) No, he isn't here. He just (go) out.
Ans: No, he isn't here. He has just went out.
iii) He (go) downstairs when I (meet) him.
Ans: He was going downstairs when I met him.
iv) The boy never (see) the sea.
Ans: The boy has never seen the sea.
v) He has already (write) a lot of letters, but his sister not (write) any.
Ans: He has already written a lot of letters, but his sister has not written any.
vi) I (hope) he (get better now, I (hear) he (have) a bad cold all week.
Ans: I hope he will get better now, I heard he had a bad cold all the week.
vii) He (live) in England since 1938.
Ans: He has been living in England since 1938.
viii) When I last (see) him, he (live) in London.
Ans: When I last saw him, he was living in London.
ix) He (sit) in the garden when the storm (break).
Ans: He was sitting in the garden, when the storm broke.
x) I (hear) the news last night, but I (not hear) it today.
Ans: I heard the news last night, but I have not heard it today.
xi) "You (read) that book yet? "No, I only just (begin) it".
Ans: "Have you read the book yet?" No, I have only begun it now.
xii) I (see) that you (buy) a new hat. How much you (pay) for it?
Ans: I see that you have bought a new hat. How much have you paid for it.
xiii) My elder brother (join) the army when he (be) seventeen.
Ans: My elder brother joined the army when he was only seventeen.
xiv) He (continue) his training there for a time, and soon (become) an officer.
Ans: He continued his training there for a time and soon became an officer.

Q:6© Make sentences with the following idiomatic phrases.

Bombarded her

Many questions bombarded Farah's mind.
A quiet corner

She sat in a quiet corner.
Had been taken

Every seat had been taken in the cinema hall.
Born and bred

Farah was born and bred abroad.
Knitted his brows

My friend knitted his brows at my answer.

Q:7 Answer the following question.

Should a lot of money be spent on pomp and show at a wedding ceremony or should it be solemnized in a simple way? Write your views.

Ans: Lot of money should not be spent on pomp and show at a wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony should be solemnized in a simple way. The pomp and show is hated in society of European, Easter or Western. In Europe wedding ceremony is so simple. The girl has a ring from her husband as a gift and the priest performs this ceremony. In Iran and as well as such countries the wedding ceremony is so simple. Everyone has a cup of tea or cold drink only at the ceremony spot.

In Islam the wedding ceremony should be simple such as our Holy Prophet (SAWW) started this ceremony in a simple and solemnized manner of his loving daughter Hazrat Fatima (R.A.). Only milk, dates were delivered to the guests which were few in number.

If we have a pomp and show in wedding ceremony we shall be burdened with loans. The anxiety will occur and the mind will indulge in tensions. Rich people also like solemnized wedding ceremony but they cannot get rid from affections. They will not show to others but internally, they like solemnized wedding events.

.

ADJECTIVES enter