Even in the days of coronavirus, when big public weddings are banned, marriage in the Middle East is an expensive business, particularly for the groom’s family. Besides shouldering the ceremony costs, the groom is expected to pay a sum known as “mahr” to the bride.

Grooms are expected to pay this money in the Gaza Strip and other traditional parts of the Muslim world. “Mahr” comes from the Syriac word "mahra," meaning “bridal gift” and also “purchase-money.” While the word does mean “gift,” in Islam, it is part of the marriage contract. And though it is supposed to belong to the bride, in many countries, the bride’s family sets the sum and takes it.

Mohammad Yassar, a 35-year-old electrician from Rafah, had been trying to tie the knot for the last five years but has been unable to afford a mahr, let alone a luxury wedding.

“I gave up when a member of the family of the woman I wanted to marry told me that I could never find a wife if all wanted to spend was 1,000 dinars,” he told Al-Monitor. “He told me that sum was for buying tomatoes, not to get a wife.” The price for a wife, his mother was told, would be four times as much.