Page 81 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

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wedding a great crowd of friends of the bridegroom bring him over
to the bride's house. They lake him lo the room and leave him there.
Then the women bring in the bride, carrying her in a rug. They leave
her in the room, and depart leaving the young people to themselves.
* I lit* iiexi morning her mother or sister goes in to gel her and to braid
her hair and dress her up lor the day. On that and on (lu* billowing
seven days many callers come to see the bride, who sits some hours with
her husband and some with her women friends. These brides are gener­
ally shy, silent and tired, exhausted by the weight of their gold ornaments.
'The day after the wedding, a feast is given at the bride’s house, and
there is another feast, on about the eighth day, in the bridegroom’s
home, the day the bride is taken over to him. This time the bride is
not carried, but walks or rides, according to the distance. For about
three days after this she sits in state and then the duties of a daughter-
in-law begin. She cooks for the whole household, though she is re­
sponsible only for the cleaning for her own rooms.
We are generally told that the Moslem woman is not allowed to
leave her house, but we find in Bahrein that of the women of the middle-
class not more than one in a hundred is thus secluded. The ninety-
nine go out with or without the permission of their husbands. 'They
take their sewing with them and go to visit and gossip with their
friends.
Whether the bride will be happy with her new husband, whom she
has never met before, will depend upon a variety of factors, most of
all upon her own and her husband's character. Is she able to maintain
a happy relationship with the mother-in-law and the other women of
the household? Has her husband other wives, besides her, and if so,
is she jealous of them or can she get along with them? Again, does she
have children and if not, cau she continue to hold the love of her
husband, or will he divorce her? Has she good health, or will she
possibly be divorced for sickness?
'The woman is considered the inferior of the man and serves him in
the lininr. She never eats or drinks in his presence but only alter he
has finished his meal. In very few homes is there anything like fellow­
ship between husband and wife. We find in Arabia too, on the other
hand, strong-minded women who rule their husbands and their homes.
Most Arab brides are mothers within a year and very many get
large families. Only the sad fact, as mentioned, remains that hardly
ever do more than three or four of twelve grow up. 'The boys, as
they grow bigger, like to show their manhood by being mean to their
mother. The father instead of reproving them, laughs at them and
considers their behavior smart. I .ike father, like son.
In times of sickness the mother helps the daughter, while the husband
has very little sympathy for a sick wife. The daughter or daughter-
in-law looks after the old mother. Unless the sickness is repulsive,
the older women are treated with honor and care.
When it is feared that a member of the household is about to die,
a Mullah is summoned. He reads some passage from the Koran, for
a fee, varying according to the standing of the family, from a couple
of dollars to as much as twenty-five. The head of the dying patient is