Marriage

The Pashto word for marriage is “Wada” واده .  Each tribe establishes rules and the rights for males and females to marry.   

The Afghan laws govern the marriages.  A Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman but a non-Muslim woman cannot marry a Muslim man. When a Muslim man wants to marry a foreign woman who is non-Muslim and the woman is not “kitabi”, or “of the book which includes the Bible, Torah, Zabor or Quran, she must first convert to Islam. In either case, the court will only register the marriage in a religious ceremony. 

Some families now leave the decision of selection of a groom up to the woman.  In the past, men and women had little say into their partners as most marriages were arranged by the parents.   In addition, the country's Shia religious leaders conduct group marriages to help their society save money.

Pashto rules:

When a man says "I'm married", it's  زه واده لرم

For a woman, it's:  زه واده يم

They are married: واده شوی دی

To marry/get married:  واده کول
Sarah is married to Hakim: سارا د حکيم سره واده کوى