Mahumud issued these necessary laws for the security of
female comfort and the moral habits of the males, there existed a practice
with the Arabs of forcing young women to marry against their inclination,
adding, year by year, to the many wretched creatures doomed, for a time,
to all the miseries of a crowded hut; and at last, when tired of their
persons or unable to provide them with sustenance, turning them adrift
without a home, a friend, or a meal. To the present day the law against
forced marriages is revered, and no marriage contract can be deemed lawful
without the necessary form of inquiry by the Maulvee, who, in the presence
of witnesses, demands of the young lady, 'whether the contract is by her
own free will and consent?' This, however, I am disposed to think, in the
present age, is little else than a mere form of 'fulfilling the law' since
the engagement is made by the parents of both parties, the young couple
being passive subjects to the parental arrangement, for their benefit as
they are assured. The young lady, from her rigid seclusion, has no prior
attachment, and she is educated to be 'obedient to her husband'. She is
taught from her earliest youth to look forward to such match as her kind
parents may think proper to provide for her; and, therefore, can have no
objection to accepting the husband selected for her by them. The parents,
loving their daughter, and aware of the responsibility resting on them,
are cautious in selecting for their girls suitable husbands, according to
their particular view of the eligibility of the suitor.

The first marriage of a Mussulmaun is the only one where a public display
of the ceremony is deemed necessary, and the first wife is always
considered the head of his female establishment. Although he may be the
husband of many wives in the course of time, and some of them prove
greater favourites, yet the first wife takes precedence in all matters
where dignity is to be preserved. And when the several wives meet--each
have separate habitations if possible--all the rest pay to the first wife
that deference which superiority exacts from inferiors; not only do the
secondary wives pay this respect to the first, but the whole circle of
relations and friends make the same distinction, as a matter of course;
for the first wife takes precedence in every way.

Should the first wife fortunately present her husband with a son, he is
the undisputed heir; but the children of every subse