Exploring Non- Legally Binding Ceremonies

Exploring Non- Legally Binding Ceremonies Presented by: Dr. Akhtar and Prof. Probert Date: 17 March 2023 Project Overview - Investigating a wide range of non-legally binding wedding ceremonies in various communities • Nature of ceremonies • Beliefs, practices and desires of those involved - couples and celebrants • Impact of Law Commission reform proposals - Investigating both religious and non-religious marriage practices - Overall aims: find out who is opting for non-legally binding ceremonies, reasons for doing so, the role of those who perform them, and potential impact of different proposals for reform. Research participants - Celebrants (those conducting non-legally binding ceremonies) • 82 celebrants engaged using focus group, group interviews and individual interviews • 30 female 52 male • 31 Muslim imams | 23 independent celebrants | 8 Hindu priests | 6 Christian priests or ministers 5 Humanist celebrants | 2 Pagan priests | 2 Jewish rabbis 2 Buddhist celebrants | 1 Zoroastrian priest 1 representative of the Baha'i 1 Sikh priest - - Individual Participants • 83 interviews (five interviews included both partners) • 88 individual participants • 61 female | 26 male | 1 non- binary Ceremonies • 67 dual/multiple ceremonies including 8 interfaith | 16 single ceremonies (religious- only) Types Of Dual Ceremonies - Civil & Nikah - Civil & Humanist - Civil & Independent - Civil & Pagan - Civil & Interfaith - Civil & Hindu - Civil & Jain - Civil & Christian - Civil & Sikh - Civil & Baha'i - Christian & Christian - Christian & Hindu - Christian & Jewish - Christian & Nikah - Civil & Nikah & Christian - Civil & Zoroastrian & Christian Non-Legally binding (NLB) ceremony first - 28 participants had a NLB ceremony over a month before a legal wedding, or had no legal wedding at all • - 24 Muslim nikah ceremonies, 4 others (Hindu, Wiccan, Sikh, interfaith) 16 of these couples were in religious-only marriages at the time of the interview • 14 nikah ceremonies • 1 Sikh wedding • 1 interfaith ceremony Why Muslim couples have NLB (nikah) ceremonies - 'It's the only valid form of ceremony in terms of my religion' • - More important than legal wedding 'I could have had a civil ceremony but that doesn't mean I'm married in our terms, as a Muslim. You're only married once you've had the nikah. So that one's the serious stuff' • - Necessary to enable relationship 'no intimate relationship. Only through marriage.' Why imams conduct NLB - Performing a role • 'As we believe that the nikah and the marriage is part of the religion, it is not only worldly matter, it is part of our faith, part of our religion, and so the imam and the Islamic center has to facilitate it for the Muslim community. So because we think it is an essential part of our religion, so that's why we conduct it. It is you can say similar to the prayer as imam has to lead the prayer, the same way imam has a responsibility to conduct these ceremonies as well.' Reason for delaying or omitting a legal wedding - - Delay • Legal or administrative barrier • Delay in getting round to it, 'life' getting in the way • Deliberate delay - to test the relationship Omit • Financial considerations • Unable to access legal wedding • No desire to legally marry Knowledge - A lack of awareness of rights? • 'so much awareness about it' • VS • 'Even educated women... Their families told them, "This is all you need to do." And then, you know, ten, 15, 20 years down the line, they find themselves in a very difficult position The absence of options for... - Outdoor weddings - Humanist weddings - Weddings conducted by independent celebrants - Interfaith weddings Why not have a simple ceremony in the register office and then the ceremony of your choice? - Cost and availability - 'is that the real wedding, June?' - 'one of my bridesmaids went around on the big day saying, "you know they're already married? They got married yesterday, so this is..." as if she thought it was a bit... sort of, well why would you have this big party if you're already legally married? So, as it was, people didn't really understand anyway, why you would have two ceremonies' Why not get married in a registered place of worship? - Lack of options - Differences in how this option is experienced The impact of the prescribed words - 'as a Christian, I can have the type of service I want, ideally also legally recognised' - 'we do both of them separately. Just in the same sitting, one is the Islamic one and then the legal one, okay, you know the declarations' - 'in multi-cultural Britain it seems like a bit of a strange situation to be in... at the moment, it comes across like well, the Registration is the thing that matters, the rest of it is... you can do it if you want. You don't need to do whatever it is. And that doesn't feel respectful to our culture' Dual ceremonies on approved premises - four degrees of separation - Combined - Seamless - Spatial - Temporal Dual ceremonies on approved premises - forced apart - Cost and availability - Constraints on what could be included - Constraints on whether the non- legally binding ceremony could take place there at all