For Chams, Traditional Wedding Season Begins

The imam cuts three pieces of hair from both the bride and groom before the wedding ceremony. (Photo: elyselightman.wordpress.com, More traditional Cham wedding ceremony photos)

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09 December 2009

It’s wedding season for Cambodia’s Muslims. Living alongside with their Khmer counterparts, Chams in Cambodia have their own customs and traditions of marriage—though with a little less celebration.

Unlike traditional Khmer wedding celebrations, in which sounds of wedding songs and musical instruments can be heard from the bride’s house, a Cham celebration contains no songs or music.

The reason is that Islamic law does not allow any romantic music, though the law allows sounds of Islamic prayers or reading of its holy book, the Koran, during the special occasion.

The Chams, descendents of the lost Champa empire in today’s Vietnam, are followers of Islam. The majority of them, estimated to be 500,000 in Cambodia, live along the Tonle Sap and the Mekong rivers.

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