Zanzibar-old

The famous singer and lead vocalist of the rock band Queen – Freddie Mercury – was born and grew up in the Sultanate of Zanzibar (Tanzania now).
Zanzibar, which the Sultanate of Oman ruled for centuries, is almost entirely Muslim.
Swahili time – in Swahili culture, people start counting time at sunrise rather than at midnight, which means that 7 a.m. Western time is one o’clock in the morning Swahili time, and 7 p.m. is one o’clock at night. The sunset and sunrise times are relatively constant year-round since Zanzibar is so close to the equator.
Stone Town – the ancient city—declared a UNESCO cultural heritage site in 2000.

The Muslim bride in Zanzibar is given to her sumo or it is the mother’s best friend who is caring for her all the time before the wedding. The sumo is also responsible for all beauty procedures and outfit of the bride.
The bride herself does not actually attend her own wedding ceremony. Till her family has a huge celebration, the bride and her sumo wait at home apart of the ceremony.
After the ceremony, on which the bride is not part of, she patiently waits for her husband and the sumo makes up a bed for the couple, filled with the petals of fragrant flowers.
The groom must pay the sumo the arranged fee for her services and the newlyweds are left alone.
The virginity of the bride her most valuable asset. So if there is no evidence of this, the bride must give back all of her wedding gifts as punishment.