Marriage and marriage arrangements
The respondents ranked in Table ι.8 factors or personal characteristics that they had taken or would take into consideration when choosing their spouse:
Table 1.8 Desired characteristics of life partner
| Female respondents | Male respondents |
| Economic status Age Family Being religious Appearance Love Level of education Personality Like-mindedness | Being religious Family Appearance Economic status Age Level of education Love Personality Like-mindedness |
For the purposes of this question, the concept of the partner ‘being religious’ was defined as having knowledge of the basic rules of Islam and being committed to regularly carrying out religious obligations, rather than a general faith unaccompanied by a commitment to practice and religious rules.
For women, the ranking of certain of the criteria differed according to the respondent’s level of education. The importance of the husband’s level of education increased with the level of education of the female respondent, followed for this group of respondents by the significance of similarity in age, a condition which was not significant for the illiterate women, especially in the rural areas.
Table 1.9 Factors taken into consideration in choosing life partner
| Data | Rural | Male | Female | |||
| Urban | Total | Rural | Urban | Total | ||
| Being religious | ²Ç | 22.5 | 35∙5 | H | 16.5 | 3°∙5 |
| Family | 12∙5 | 20.5 | 34 | 12 | 22.5 | 34∙5 |
| Appearance | 6 | 23 | 29 | 5∙5 | 22.5 | 28 |
| Economic status | 5 | 15∙5 | 20.5 | 14 | 37∙5 | 5i∙5 |
| Age | 5∙5 | 10.5 | 16 | 9∙5 | 3O∙5 | 40 |
| Educational level | 1∙5 | 11∙5 | 13 | 4∙5 | 16 | 20.5 |
| Love | 2∙5 | 9 | 11∙5 | 3 | 19 | 22 |
| Personality | 1∙5 | θ∙5 | 8 | 2∙5 | 15∙5 | 18 |
| Like-mindedness | o∙5 | 4 | 4∙5 | o∙5 | 9 | 9∙5 |
* Respondents were given more than one option, giving a total of over ιoo%.
It is also worth noting, in regard to the results set out in Table 1.9, that a large proportion of the male respondents who were either married or engaged stated that their parents had played a significant role in selecting their future wife, whether directly or indirectly.
In most cases it was the mother who had played the leading role, either selecting the bride or proposing a particular bride from among a number of possibilities.
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