A mild drama occurred in Bauchi State yesterday as a man jokingly gave his daughter’s hand in marriage while teasing a bachelor.
The incident happened in Wuntin Dada, a suburb of Bauchi town when the father attended one wedding Fatiha in the area.
According to eyewitnesses, the girl’s father had attended a wedding Fatiha at a mosque in the area and was exchanging pleasantries with people when he came across a bachelor. He would jeer the single man, saying he won’t shake hands with a bachelor.
Responding, the bachelor remarked that the man has many daughters and could marry off a particular one to him. Jokingly, the father responded in the affirmative.
JOKE WENT WRONG
The man whose name is yet unknown asked the bachelor to present a dowry of N5-N100. His (bachelor) friends would contribute N100,000 at the spot and presented to the father, but he refused to collect it, saying he was only joking.
“What happened is that we attended a wedding Fatiha and the man came, as he was shaking hands with everyone, he skipped our friend saying he can not shake hands with an unmarried man jokingly,” as source told DW Hausa.
“Our friend replied that since the man has many daughters, she should marry off one of them (Nana) to him and he agreed that the man should present a dowry and called seven of us to witness it. We gathered money for the groom but the father said he will not collect the dowry insisting that he was joking,” the source added.
Auwal Dada, a brother to the incidental bride was among those who witnessed the drama and he said he would proceed with the rites should the father failed to.
on whose wedding Fatiha the incident occurred, he would proceed with the marriage ties since both the bride and groom to be were his relatives if the father refused.
“If the father can not come into the mosque and proceed with the marriage, I can do so since she is a sister to me,” said Auwal.
Reacting to controversial marriage, Malam Mustapha Baba Ilelah, a Bauchi-based cleric and Chairman of the state Shari’ah Commission said the marriage has been formalized since the father has consented to it and there were witnesses and dowry even though the father declined the dowry.
“In Islam, the marriage has been formalized since the father has said he has given him and there were witnesses and presentation of dowry, even though the father hasn’t collected the dowry. These were among the basic requirements for a wedding in Islam,” said Ilelah.
Corroborating Ilelah’s words, Imam Dr Idris Abdulaziz, another cleric based in Bauchi cited Prophetic tradition that said three things are genuine even if they were pronounced jokingly among which is marriage. According to him, there are some conditions before marriage is formalized.
“The point is that if the girl is not married, she has to be informed and seek her consent to be sought on whether she likes him or not. But if she is a divorcee, she has to agree first before a marriage is conducted,” Malam Idris stated.
