الملخص الإنجليزي
This study aims at identifying the most important social dimensions associated with the phenomenon of delayed marriage age in contemporary Omani society. The phenomenon is associated with a combination of demographic, economic and socio-cultural transformations. Methodologically, the study is based on a descriptive approach, and combines quantitative and qualitative methods of
data collection and analysis. The study sample comprised 200 male and female informants from Muscat Governorate who married at a delayed age.
The main findings have been grouped according to the important themes of the study. The first theme deals with the determinants of marriage in the Omani society. It has been found that approximately one third of the participants do not prefer to get married early, and that the suitable age for a girl is 20-25 years old, while it is 26-30 for a man. A further finding has been that more than half of the
participants considered it delayed marriage for those girls who have exceeded 30 years old and did not get married, while more than two thirds of the participants did not consider men who get married after the age of 30 years old as delayed. Moreover, while most of the participants do not prefer marrying close relatives the majority of them prefer to marry within the same religious sect. Another finding has been that most Omanis prefer to get married through dating, and that the house or the block in which they live is the preferred place for holding a wedding ceremony. Furthermore, three quarters of the participants agreed that the person who makes the marriage decision is the one who wants to get married. Moreover, the majority of the participants, especially the males, supported the notion that they are able to
turn down the marriage decision if the choice of their partner is made by their family. In addition, the majority of the participants considered delayed marriage age a serious social problem in Oman. The second theme is associated with the causes leading to delayed marriage. It has been found that there is a consensus amongst the participants about destiny age, unavailability of accommodation, high dowries, and mismatch between the income and financial commitments towards banks as the determining factors in delayed marriage age.
The third theme deals with the implications of delayed marriages. There has been a consensus amongst the participants about delayed marriages as having certain impacts such as psychological and emotional instability, spread of sexual relations outside marriage, deprivation of women from motherhood, and the emergence of new forms of temporary marriages like Al-Misyar and Al-Urfi.
The fourth theme is associated with the mechanisms of delayed marriage remedies. A consensus has been identified amongst the participants about a number of mechanisms that help to reduce delayed marriages like directing guardians to facilitate marriages, developing religious awareness amongst the youth, providing financial support by the state and the private sector to those
planning to get married constructing and leasing residential blocks at an affordable price, and providing interest-free loans to marrying youth. The study concludes by discussing the results in relation to previous studies and theoretical frameworks and the recommendations and ways of implementing them.
