Amal Bhalid al-Ariqi
In Yemen, because of its Islamic tradition, marriage is considered to be one of the most important actions in life. It’s how humanity is continued on Earth.
There many customs and habits in Yemeni weddings, which vary depending on the village. Some parties are large. Others are small.
There are also different ways marriages are arranged.
The first way has the groom’s mother chooses a girl for him.
The second way has the man chooses a girl and ask his mother to engage him with that girl. During the visit to the girls house, the groom’s mother then expresses the desire saying “We would like to have your daughter to be a wife for my son.”
The girl’s mother asks for a week or more to think about it. It is considered shameful if the girl’s family says yes immediately.
A third way has the bride’s family agree on a meeting with the groom’s father and relatives with the bride’s father and relatives. They meet to discuss and agree on a sum of money to be paid to bride’s father.
This practice differs from place to place. Some times money is paid early and sometimes it’s postponed to the night of the engagement.
Some money is paid before the wedding, some money is paid later. This money is called “moakher.”
In case something goes wrong after wedding, that money is then paid back to the bride and her family and and she returns to her father’s house.
In al-Aroq country, weddings last four days. On the first day, the grooms’ father and relatives go to the bride’s father taking with them cakes, sweets, qat and biscuits. This is called “colsah.
On this day the bride’s father or others who are responsible for bride make contract with groom. Some families make contract a month or more from the wedding.
The bride’s family has a small party and the groom gives his wife gold. In the evening, the bride will have flowers drawn on her hands and feet with henna.
In front of both the groom’s and bride’s house a sheep is killed. Then a fire is made on the rooftops, and men shoot bullets into the air to celebrate.
On the second day of the wedding, called “al-dockalah,” the groom’s house makes a party with a large lunch of rice, meat, broth, aseed and salta. After lunch men take the groom to his roof where he wears traditional clothes with the jambiyya.
The bride’s house makes a party in the afternoon, before the groom comes and takes the bride back to his house, where there are sweets biscuits given to guests.
On the third day, called “al-Sobhiah” the bride and groom don’t leave their house. In the afternoon the groom chews Qat with his family and friends, and the bride wears nice clothes while her friends come to congratulate her.
On the fourth day the bride’s house sends a sheep and sweets to grooms’ house, and the bride’s father and mother come to her daughter to have a lunch.

Mohammed al-Fakih
The folk heritage of Yemen is rich in several and various colors of the folk dances, many of which are still performed in several parts of Yemen. In fact, the ancient Yemenis considered dances a way of having fun and entertainment which could activate them during their hard work. The only musical instrumental they get used to use during dancing was a pipe made of the pipes of corns.
The dance, of course, does not mean moving the body, legs, and arms for the purpose of turning or wasting time but it does mean more than that. Firstly, it's a way by which a person can have lot of fun when the body, legs, and arms move according to the tones of the pipe or the folk music. Secondly, it is away by which the person can express his happiness or sadness.
There are two kinds of dances which are the rural dance and the urban dance.
The rural dance has a lot of types such as: the violence dance, mountain dance, five-person dance, and the dance with animals like cows, camels horses. etc.
The women never take part in these dances.
The instruments used in such dances are the drum and the pipe. Most of these dances are still performed in most of the areas of Shabwa province especially Baihan and Nissab.
Among the dances that express war, hardship of life, boast, tribal enmities, and tribal comparisons is Albara which is still performed in most Yemeni areas and usually accompanied by folk songs called "Zawamel".
The urban dances are different from the rural dances because they are softer and performed in cities, and women don't take part in them.
Every kind of these dances is performed on special occasions, for example, there are dances which are performed during visiting the tombs of pious religion men {Al-Awlia Al- Saliheen}, and dances of farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and other general dances of fun.
In addition, there is a dance in Hadramout and Shabwa called "Al -Miah" in which the dancer beats his feet in the ground or claps strongly by his strong hands or boasts his manhood when he is dancing kindly with a woman.
In Aden and Lahj, there are dances such as: "Al zzar" and Al-Mazzaf which express the submission to the religious beliefs and myths.
In the dance "Al-zzar", devils and people are called and money is spent. Women and men do not perform this dance together. The dancer falls unconsciously during dancing, but "Al-Mazaf " is performing during visits to the tombs of the religious men.
There are three dances which are common and well-known throughout Yemen. These dances are sometimes a little different from an area to another.
1- Al-Zafeen: in this dance, the person should dance according to the tones of drums and guitar and should go forth and back many times. When he comes back, he should come back for about five meters. Then he should keep on going forth and back until the role is over.
The watchers should sit in the form of a circle or a square and there should be a wide space in the middle.
Women and men can take part in such dance.
2- Al-Sharh: in this dance, only one drum is used and the watchers stand in a big circle clapping according to the drum beats and singing very loudly. In the middle of the circle, two persons, one of them can be a woman, dance. Every one should hold the other's hand and dance face to face.
3-Al-Bara:
The watchers stand in the form of a wide circle. In the middle of this circle, two or four persons dance waving their daggers and turning many times .
This dance is usually accompanied by collective folk songs in order to encourage the dancers to dance.