A vital component of Islamic law, which is often misunderstood, is consent of parties, the man’s and the woman’s families. Other traditions include “mahr," a gift from the groom to his bride which can be money or gold in the most cases, witnesses, and publicity of the ceremony. According to cross-cultural tradition in the Middle East, marriage should never be kept secret as it leads to suspicion and troubles within the community.

Personally, I grew up in one of the more liberal societies in the region, that of Lebanon, with my par

My parents’ marriage, on the other hand, was more of a culmination of an established relationship; they knew each other for a long time which gave both a good idea about each other’s inside thoughts and life style. They managed to solve problems with relative ease, as a result, especially since every family goes through problems. Divorce was the last thing that my parents would think about when both got in an argument, but my parents were an understanding couple. Looking at the percentage of divorces in the Middle East and especially in the “Sham,” the region including Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt, the divorce rate is very low comparing to Arabia, the region including Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other gulf countries. But comparing to the rate of divorce in Western culture, Middle Eastern divorce rates are significantly lower. According to Dawn Chatty in the textbook she said “Divorce rates in the Middle East are far below those in West (national rates in Egypt and Syria run just over one divorce per thousand married couples annually; the U.S. rates is about four times as high)”(Chatty, 121).

Marriages are different in every culture. Culture is defined as “the ideas, beliefs, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a society” (Dictionary, 330). Culture is not the same thing as nationality. There are Americans who

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