Responding to the invitation to a wedding feast
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner, who sent a set of questions, asks: If a family is invited to a wedding feast, is it obligatory for every member of the family, O Shaykh? And if one member of the family fails to attend, does this fall under the prohibition?
Answer:
The invitation to a wedding feast is of two types. The first is a general invitation where no specific person is designated; in this case, the person has the choice to go or not to go. This is called a general invitation (da'wat al-jafala). The second type is a specific invitation directed to each individual; whoever is invited is obligated to respond. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 1913Sahih (Darussalam).
However, if there is wrongdoing (munkar) in the feast, as is the case in many of the current celebrations which contain wrongdoings, then if he is able to remove this wrongdoing and prevent it, he is obligated to attend for two reasons: first, to respond to the invitation, and second, to remove the wrongdoing. But if he is unable to remove it, it is not permissible for him to go to this celebration. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
This questioner, who sent a set of questions, asks: If a family is invited to a wedding feast, is it obligatory for every member of the family, O Shaykh? And if one member of the family fails to attend, does this fall under the prohibition?
Answer:
The invitation to a wedding feast is of two types. The first is a general invitation where no specific person is designated; in this case, the person has the choice to go or not to go. This is called a general invitation (da'wat al-jafala). The second type is a specific invitation directed to each individual; whoever is invited is obligated to respond. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The worst of food is food of a wedding feast to which the rich are invited and the poor are not. Whoever does not accept an invitation has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.
شَرُّ الطَّعَامِ طَعَامُ الْوَلِيمَةِ يُدْعَى لَهَا الأَغْنِيَاءُ وَيُتْرَكُ الْفُقَرَاءُ وَمَنْ لَمْ يُجِبْ فَقَدْ عَصَى اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُHowever, if there is wrongdoing (munkar) in the feast, as is the case in many of the current celebrations which contain wrongdoings, then if he is able to remove this wrongdoing and prevent it, he is obligated to attend for two reasons: first, to respond to the invitation, and second, to remove the wrongdoing. But if he is unable to remove it, it is not permissible for him to go to this celebration. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
Source
قناة «مكة و المدينة»، 09 فتاوى على الهواء - 13 / 05 / 1433هـ _ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (16:39)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.