Marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim
Various celebrities in Bollywood and elsewhere have interfaith marriages and they never had any problems while getting married; however, there are a lot of troubles for ordinary people in India to get married if their faiths are different. A major reason behind the hurdles on interfaith marriage put by Hindus and Muslims is that it is looked down.
To avoid interfaith marriages, both the Hindu and Islamic Marriage Acts have labeled marriage to someone from the opposite religion as void. However, this does not mean that if two persons want to get married there is no solution provided by the constitution of India. The solution came in the form of Special Marriage Act, 1954.
When the parliament of India passed the Special Marriage Act of 1956 to provide some legal recognition to people in a Hindu-Muslim marriage, the legislators had thought that it would help in the national integrity and provide the much needed respite to the people who cannot get married the traditional way of their religions.
However, this Act does not override the separate clauses of the Hindu and Muslim laws as it says that the spouses continue to be bound by the laws of their respective religions, unless one of them gets converted.
If a Hindu does not convert, he/she does not lose the right to inherit the property by succession or the same applies to Hindu Coparcener’s right in an Ancestral Hindu Property.
Who is Eligible to Get Married under the Special Marriage Act?
The Special Marriage Act does not recognize every marriage; there must be some conditions fulfilled before a marriage is recognized by the Act e.g. the marriage is a civil contract, involving no form of rites or ceremonies, both parties must not be involved in any other existing valid marriage.
Similarly, the parties should not be mentally incapacitated, and must be capable of giving a valid consent for the union and the bride must be at least 18 years old, and the bridegroom must have attained 21 years. Every marriage officer must solemnize the intended marriage; however, if he refuses to do so, parties can appeal to the District Court within 30 days.
Advantages of Getting Married under the Special Marriage Act
It is sufficient to say that not just interfaith marriage, but Special Marriage Act also encourages swift procedure of marriage. If you have arranged all relevant and required documents beforehand, it hardly takes more than 10-20 minutes go get married under the Special Marriage Act.
