Grand Mariage Customs Can Empower Comoros Women
Wedding Traditions, Fishing Co-Operatives, Face Masks, Land Rights
Jul 24, 2009
The location of Comoros archipelago at the southern end of the early trading routes between South Asia and the East African coast has left a very mixed legacy of traditional laws and customs. Arab influence has meant that over 90% of the population on all four islands is Sunni Muslim, but other older influences can be detected beneath the overlay of Swahili culture.
Javanese, Polynesian, African and pre-Islamic Yemeni and Persian cultures have left their mark on the Comoros. These older cultures tended to give women more status and rights than Islam, and it is the survival of these that makes the social structure of the Comoros islands unique. With only minor variations, Grande Comore, Mayotte, Anjouan and Mohèle all show similar traits.
Grand Mariage and Petit Mariage (Comorian Spelling)
These are the two kinds of traditional wedding in the Comoros. More emphasis is placed on weddings than on any other religious or cultural events – something that is rare outside the Comoros. All attempts to ban Grand marriage have failed, although the families are often left almost bankrupt by it.
Grand Mariage as a Means of Improving Social Status
This fascinating custom predates Islam, and is said to commemorate the wedding of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
- Ceremonials can go on for weeks, with five days as the bare minimum.
- The bride is swathed in costly silks and as much jewellery as her family can provide, and laden with perfumed flowers such as jasmine and ylang-ylang. She is fed delicacies to make her plump.
- The groom has to provide the ‘bride price’, typically 250 grams of gold jewellery, 10 cows, 10 trunks of clothing and around £10,000 for the bride's family.
- Food and entertainment has to be provided for hundreds of people.
- Bullocks and other animals are ritually slaughtered and barbequed.
- The groom’s mother is largely responsible for saving, sometimes for many years, to provide the ‘bride price’ or lobola, presents intended to set the couple up for life, and feasting.
- A family’s honour and future status in Comorian society is thus determined by the mother and her female kin who co-operate to make it a success.
- The bride’s status is enhanced by the size of the ‘bride price’. Her family must chose the groom well, or the bride price will have to be returned if she leaves the marriage.
Petit Mariage or Informal Marriage
The couple simply exchange small gifts (even a ball-point pen or a torch will do) and agree to live together until Grand Mariage is possible. It is more like a betrothal than a western-style engagement.
Comorian Womens' Fishing Co-Operatives
- Comorian women are considered ‘too weak’ to use out-rigger fishing canoes (pirogues or galawas).
- They have evolved a style of inshore fishing where groups go wading in the shallows with cloths, baskets or mosquito nets to catch small fish, crabs and shell-fish.
- Men are not allowed to watch them, or interfere in any way.
- The proceeds from delicacies such as lobsters, octopus and squid usually go towards a family Grand Mariage, and the rest of the catch is shared to feed the family.
Comorian Face Masks or M’sidzanou
- A paste of white clay, finely ground coral sand and sandalwood is applied to the face daily as a beauty treatment and worn in public as a protection from the sun and mosquitoes.
- For special occasions, gold leaf may be added, and extra patterns applied.
- The custom is pre-Islamic with no religious meaning attached, but it may also be a way of concealing the face in public to avoid full veiling.
Comoros Traditonal Property Rights and Inheritance
A woman can own her own property and pass it on as she wishes according to ancient Comorian custom which allows more latitude than strict Islamic law on such issues.
Comorian women have a sense of their own empowerment. When a force of 50 armed men from Anjouan tried to invade Mayotte to force it to join the Union of the Comoros, the market women of Mamoudzou turned out to lift their skirts and ‘moon’ the invaders, who left without firing a shot. However, 70% of women have experienced violent acts, usually within their own household.
Ref: United Nations Human Rights
For more information: Comoros
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