As preparations for the holy month of Ramadhan gather pace, 280 cohabiting couples set to solemnize their marriage in a mass wedding in Mombasa have been given premarital counselling to have solid marriages.
Lack of premarital counselling has been cited as critical as most of the divorce cases are a result of inadequate preparation for marriage life.
The couples were imparted valuable lessons on communication, conflict resolution mechanisms and patience.
Shufaa Foundation Founder Sheikh Omar Buya said that family is the cornerstone of a country’s development and as such for a family to be strong, it is imperative for a couple to be well-prepared for marriage.
Couples, he added are also supposed to provide good parenting to their children.
Sheikh Buya noted most of the societal problems, like security, economics and conflicts stemmed from failed marriages. “Eventually the children lose direction, ending up in the streets and resulting in the emergence of juvenile gangs,” stated Sheikh Buya.
The one-day premarital counselling workshop in Nyali Sub-County is a precursor to the national Muslim mass wedding slated for Saturday. “We want to give them valuable marriage insights to live a peaceful marriage life. You can’t steer the vessel if you lack the requisite knowledge nor can a farmer realize bounty harvest without education. Likewise, you can’t be a successful couple without marriage education,” explained Sheikh Buya.
He added that couples will also be screened for Sexually Transmitted Infections and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
“The objective of the mass wedding is to ease the burden on couples. Most people have not been able to officiate their marriages because of hurdles. Some don’t have the financial capacity to celebrate their marriages,” said Sheikh Buya. Adding most youth loathe marriage because they don’t want to be responsible.
For his part, Sheikh Hussein Bute said marriage is a sacred act in Islam as it prevents people from indecorous behaviours and preserves lineage. He noted that without marriage, human beings would be the same as animals.
“Most youths don’t want to marry because of maybe lack of source of income to look after the wife. You’ll find someone aged 40 years and more still planning to marry yet according to scholars’ income shouldn’t prevent one from getting married,” stated Sheikh Bute.
Abdalla Baya, a Bamburi resident is over the moon for the lifetime opportunity to marry his girlfriend of nine years with whom they have one child. “I have been waiting for this opportunity,” stated Baya, adding that the valuable lessons will enable them to live peacefully.
On her part, Amina Thomas who cohabited with her boyfriend for four years, thanked the organizers for imparting them with conflict resolution mechanisms that will enable them to amicably resolve misunderstandings that may arise in marriage.
By Sadik Hassan
