Malay Wedding Expenditures: The Investigation on Its Ruling from the Perspective of Contemporary Fiqh

Abstract

There are a few types of expenditures in Malay wedding. Hence, this research reports on wedding expenditures practice by Malay in Malaysia. Some of the wedding expenditures practiced by Malay are bride price and invitation cards. Through extensive observation, it can be said that the society often confuses between the bride price (hantaran) with marriage settlement (mas kahwin). Besides that, society also prefers to organize a grandeur wedding to the extent that the wedding becomes a burden on them. This research also discusses how a small bride price and a decent wedding can fulfill one of the maqasid al-syariahwhich is preserving one’s possession. Researchers use library research as the primary method to obtain information on the origin and value of bride price (hantaran kahwin) in ‘urf Melayu, and the analysis on wedding expenditures promoted by Islamic religion. Research findings show that Islamic religion does not forbid cultural wedding expenditures, however, it must be moderate, considerate, and is not burdening.