Types of marriage

The practices of marriage vary across cultures, religions and historical periods. Despite these diversities, it is agreeable to identify types of marriage as religious, civil and customary.

(a) Religious marriages
These are the types of marriage where the couple has been married according to religious
laws. Religious marriage is officiated by clerics in accordance with the recognized rites of a
religion, denomination or sect to which both or one of the partners belong. In the Tanzanian
context, religious marriages fall under two main streams of religion, Islamic and Christianity.
In the country, acceptable marriage must be between opposite sex partners who are not
closely blood related to each other. Both Muslim and Christian men are expected to choose
wives from among fellow believers. Islamic marriages can be monogamous or polygamous
while Christian marriages are only monogamous.

(b) Civil marriages
These are marriages performed, recorded and recognised by a government official. In
Tanzania, the District Commissioner’s office is responsible to officiate such kind of marriages.
The planned marriage has to be announced for at least twenty-one days to allow any
objections to be presented against the partners. The announcement of notice of intention to
marry should be put on the District Commissioner’s office notice board or advertised on the
newspapers. Like other types of marriage, civil marriage needs three groups of people,
namely;

(i) Two partners of opposite sex who want to marry each other;
(ii) Witnesses for the groom and the bride who should be at least 18 years of age and able
to understand the nature of the ceremony; and
(iii) Government official who officiates the marriage from the office of the District
Registrar which is within the office of District Commissioner.

Finally, all these people are supposed to sign a certificate of marriage as per the laws of a
country. Couples married in a civil marriage are usually requested to state in their
certificates whether the marriage shall be monogamous or polygamous.

(c) Customary marriages
This is the form of marriage that is negotiated, celebrated or concluded according to the
system of indigenous African customary laws. Many African societies practice this kind of
marriage. Although norms and customs vary in different cultures, a traditional marriage still
follows after a period of courtship, public announcement of wedding plans, and a wedding
ceremony. In the Maasai community, for example, marriage is conducted after initiation of a
boy and a girl to adulthood. Also, after the payment of dowry in terms of cattle, meat,
clothing and local brew. The marriage is arranged by elders in meetings without attendance
of the bride and her mother. This form of marriage is typically celebrated by the entire
community. During the marriage ceremony, a sheep or a bull is brought from the groom’s
home and slaughtered. In many African culture, there are different types of marriages
regulated by customary laws and traditions as follow:

(i) Consanguineous marriages: It is also known as cousin marriage. It is a type of marriage
which involves a union between biologically related individuals or partners, who are
second cousins or closer. This type of marriage has been historically accepted by some
societies especially in North Africa and some communities along the coastal areas in
Tanzania. Such marriages often take place to prevent people from dismantling their clan
and sometimes to protect their family wealth. Others believe that, marrying within a
family reduces the possibilities of hidden uncertainties in health and financial issues.

(ii) Elopement marriages: This type of marriage happens when a girl decides to visit her
boyfriend and stays with him expecting to get married. A girl and her lover, may equally
elope and run to a distant place again. This process is done by partners without the
consent of their parents. Eloping also may take place when parents of either side do
not approve a girl or a boy to marry somebody of their choice. Furthermore, eloping
happens when the boy and his kinsmen are unable to assemble the full dowry that the
girl’s father have demanded. However, the father of the girl may later on acknowledge
the marriage without holding any grudges against his son-in-law and his kinsmen.
Dowry is then paid, but no wedding feast is celebrated in such a case, however the
marriage will be considered completed. Additionally, eloping can happen especially
when someone has a particular person in mind as a future partner but is being forced
to marry somebody else. After eloping, the partners may enter into marital relations.
In Tanzania, this type of marriage is practised by some societies such as Zigua in a rite
known as kutegula, Sukuma known as kulehiwa, Sambaa known as kunyiisha, Maasai
known as enjung o, Ha known as ukwiyibha and pando miaa in Luo tribe.

(iii) Sororate marriages: This is a type of marriage in which a husband engages in
marriage with the sister of his wife, either after the death of his wife or when his wife
has proven infertile. When a wife dies, the deceased wife’s sister is presented to a
husband as a substitute by the family without a fresh marriage procedure. In that
regard, the first marriage is regarded as continuing, with new wife taking the place of
deceased sister. The children of both sisters belong either to the living or to the
deceased sister or both. This is common in South Sudan, Nyanza province in Kenya
and some parts in North Western regions in Tanzania.

Sororate marriage also takes place when an infertile married woman gets a girl, from
her family, so that, through that girl her husband could get children. This girl can also
be brought when the woman has reached menopause. The man can only cohabit
with the girl to get more children. The children born out of this arrangement are
either divided between the two sisters, or they are transferred to the infertile woman
or they are jointly owned. However, the elder wife has the right to command the girl
on the number of children she should bear. A good example is Zwazi and Peuls people
in Guinea.

(iv) A woman marriage: This is a marriage practice that allows an old woman to marry a
younger woman. This type of marriage is commonly practiced by those with ability
to feed the families independently, most often rich women. These women are
referred to as “female-husbands” who in most cases have misfortunes of
conceiving and bearing children. They marry young woman to bear children for
them. After the marriage, a fairly rich woman finds a man who will establish love
affairs with the young woman and bear children. The children born in this
arrangement are considered to be children of the barren woman. The marriage is
neither amorous nor lesbian in nature. On the other hand, a woman can decide to
marry for her son who died before getting married. This type of marriage is
practiced by communities in West, Central, South, North East and East Africa. For
instance, in North-East Africa, it is practiced among the Dinka of South Sudan, the
Kamba and Kikuyu in Kenya and among the Kurya of North Mara in Tanzania, where
it is popularly known as nyumba-ntobu.

(v) Levirate marriage: This is a kind of marriage in which the brother of the deceased
man is obliged to marry his brother’s widow. This type of marriage is found in two
ways. First, where a married man inherits a deceased brother’s widow. Second,
where unmarried man inherits a widow of a deceased biological brother. In the
latter, a widow is not considered to be a full wife. However, the man has to marry
his own rightful wife in future. Levirate marriage is strongly associated with
patriarchal societies where it is regarded as protection for the widow and her
children, ensuring that they have male provider and protector. In Somalia, the
practice of levirate marriage is called Dumaal and its provisions are made under
Somali customary laws. Levirate marriage is also practiced in Nigeria among the
Yoruba, the Igbo and the Hausa ethnic groups. In Tanzania, such type of marriage is
practiced by Kurya, Nyakyusa and Luo. To the community in Mara region, this
marriage is commonly known as tero.