“Speak now, or forever hold your peace.” These are vows that some believe are taken for granted in many cultures.

The Islamic religion as well as Catholicism expresses this commonly quoted wedding ceremony phrase with sentiment. According to Catholicism, tainting the meaning of “forever” could affect ones graces with God.

Catholocism, founded on precepts of monogamy and marriage, poses a contrast with the Islamic faith. While the two attempt to establish parallels, their differences are much more blatant.

Dr. Colak, principal of Republic High School, in Osmaniye, Turkey, spoke to students on the issue of marriage in the Islamic faith Friday. Colak has published various articles and books expounding on the teaching of the Islamic faith. Islam, unlike other religions, is a strong advocate of marriage.

His lecture expressed marriage as more of a religious duty, which is consequently a moral safeguard. Colack believes marriage acts as an outlet for sexual needs that regulates humankind’s proclivity to become a slave to his/her desires.

He attempted to clear the perception of the Islamic faith by stating the controversial issues stipulated before Islam in Arabia. For instance, before Islam, Colak believes, there was no family perception: Women were considered commodities available for purchase or selling on the market and were not accepted into the family until they gave birth, girls were the source of embarrassment for the family and men could marry more than one woman simultaneously.

The marriage “commandments”, understandable to most in the audience, did not cause as much a stir as did the procedure of obtaining a marriage license and obtaining a divorce.

The reasons one can choose a spouse, according to the presentation, were: richness, pedigree, beauty, morality, and religion. Of these reasons, the preferred option, according to Colack, is to select a moral and religious spouse.

Colack believes it is best to hold the Islamic marital guidelines near and dear since there are only so many chances provided for one to get married.

Either permanently or temporarily, the Islamic faith forbids one to remarry depending on the existence of family members to a woman who is divorced from the same man three times.

The concept merited questions from the audience regarding the time lapse necessary to “re-allow” a divorced woman to remarry.

Colak reflected that she is eligible for re-marriage after she has healed from the psychological aspect and more importantly, when she is certain she is not pregnant from the previous marriage. The given time limit for recovery was approximately six months.

On a scale a bit more familiar to some audience listeners, Isabel Collora, the past director of marriage preparatory classes of the Roman Catholic Church for about 25 years, said the Catholic view approaches marriage on a very different scale, namely the procedures of the actual marriage process and divorce and its aftermath.

Far from a middle-of-the-road position to marriage, the Collara said the Catholic faith believes that marriage is more a sacrament and is a vow not to be broken. Catholicism concerns itself with remaining in the graces of God.

Divorce is frowned upon and requires a deposition for annulment. The marriage leaves one free in the civil aspect; this allows a divorce party to call on grace.

Despite the many differences between the two religions, love is a key component that should premise a marriage, according to the speakers. The rules that follow make the journey of marriage much more bearable and successful if love and God or Allah is the foundation.