The ruling on delaying the wedding feast to the seventh day of marriage
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
After this, we move on to a message received by the program from the listener al-Na'is 'Awad Allah. He has a number of questions, and in one of them he says: Some people hold a party for the newlywed on the seventh day of his marriage. Is there any report regarding this, or is it an innovation?
Answer:
The wedding feast on the occasion of marriage is a recommended practice (sunnah), established by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) through his saying and his doing. As for his saying, he told one of his Companions who had married, "Give a feast, even if it is only a sheep," and he said to him, "May Allah bless you; give a feast, even if it is only a sheep." And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in his own marriages, would prepare food and invite his Companions. Also, marriage should not be conducted with extravagance and waste, as some people do in our present understanding, for extravagance and waste are forbidden. Allah the Exalted said: "And do not waste, for He does not like those who waste"[Al-A'raf 7:31]. Rather, it should be within reasonable limits and within the limits of what is prescribed: a feast according to the number of those present, which is eaten, and food is not thrown into the garbage as some of the extravagant and wasteful do. So the wedding feast on the occasion of marriage is a recommended practice within the limits of what is prescribed. It is not permissible to leave the feast entirely, as some people do, nor is it permissible to be extravagant in the feast, as many people do. Rather, moderation is the way in this matter.
If it is the custom of people to delay the feast to the seventh day, there is no harm in that, according to the number of people. But if the feast is for the marriage itself at that time, that is the original ruling. The original ruling is that it be on the occasion of the marriage at its time. And if the general custom of people is that they hold it on the second, third, or seventh day, there is no harm in that.
After this, we move on to a message received by the program from the listener al-Na'is 'Awad Allah. He has a number of questions, and in one of them he says: Some people hold a party for the newlywed on the seventh day of his marriage. Is there any report regarding this, or is it an innovation?
Answer:
The wedding feast on the occasion of marriage is a recommended practice (sunnah), established by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) through his saying and his doing. As for his saying, he told one of his Companions who had married, "Give a feast, even if it is only a sheep," and he said to him, "May Allah bless you; give a feast, even if it is only a sheep." And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in his own marriages, would prepare food and invite his Companions. Also, marriage should not be conducted with extravagance and waste, as some people do in our present understanding, for extravagance and waste are forbidden. Allah the Exalted said: "And do not waste, for He does not like those who waste"
and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَIf it is the custom of people to delay the feast to the seventh day, there is no harm in that, according to the number of people. But if the feast is for the marriage itself at that time, that is the original ruling. The original ruling is that it be on the occasion of the marriage at its time. And if the general custom of people is that they hold it on the second, third, or seventh day, there is no harm in that.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 01/094 — archive.org (11:30)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.