The responsibility of the marriage of a girl lies upon her Wali (guardian) – father. If father is not alive then the responsibility transfers to grandfather and if the grandfather is no more, then her brothers are her Walis. If there is no adult Muslim male on the woman’s side who can act as a Wali then the qaadi (judge) can act as her Wali. The requirements of the marriage of a woman have to be fulfilled by her Wali but there are no financial requirements which are so hard on the Wali of a girl that compels him to regret her birth.
We live in a society where the birth of a baby girl is unwelcomed, if not mourned. The reasons can be many but one of the reasons is the expenditure on her wedding. If there is anybody who has to spend on the wedding, it is the groom. He has to pay the mahr (bridal gift) to his would-be wife, provide decent accommodation and bear the financial expenditures thereof. That is what Islam requires of him and it has not put any burden on women/bride to spend on the wedding. Therefore, if the expenditure on the wedding is the reason why parents are worried, then the parents of a baby boy should be worried since it is he who has to spend on his wedding – not the bride or her family.
The paradox is that even being a Muslim majority land, Kashmir has taken influences from non-Muslim cultures in which it is compulsory to spend hefty amounts just to marry the daughter off, thereby making the birth and marriage of a girl troublesome. Allaah knows the weaknesses of humanity and guidelines are revealed in the Quran to ease the burdens that life puts forth. “And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.” (4:28)
The sociological issues related to the wedding are many and the birth of a baby girl can be annoying for various reasons but let the financial concern of her marriage not be one of them.