The ruling on men and women clapping in parties and occasions of joy
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The questioner:
May Allah reward you. In another question, he asks: Is it permissible to clap in parties, such as wedding parties?
The Shaykh:
Clapping in parties is not permissible. It is a characteristic of the disbelievers and one of the customs of the disbelievers. It is not permissible for Muslims to imitate the disbelievers in their customs and traditions. Rather, a woman claps when there is a need, clapping when there is a need, such as if she is praying in congregation behind the imam and the imam makes a mistake, she claps to alert him. The men say tasbih. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 1183Sahih (Darussalam) So the men should say tasbih and the women should clap.
Likewise, a woman claps if she needs to alert someone to something. If someone asks for permission to enter while she is praying, she claps to alert the one who asked for permission. He asks for permission or calls her by name, and she lets him know that she is in prayer. So when there is a need, there is no harm in a woman clapping. As for the man, he does not clap at all. If it is to alert the imam in prayer, he says takbir, he says tasbih by saying Subhan Allah. And if he is pleased with something, he says takbir. Or if he is surprised by something or disapproves of something, he also says takbir, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do. This is what is prescribed when something strange happens or something disapproved of happens. What is prescribed for the man is to say takbir, and not to clap. Because clapping, first, is a characteristic of women, and men are prohibited from imitating women. Also, it is a custom and tradition of the disbelievers, and we are prohibited from imitating the disbelievers. And if the man does not clap when there is a need in prayer to alert the imam,
The presenter:
Mm.
The Shaykh:
then he should not clap outside of prayer when there is no need, a fortiori. Yes.
The presenter:
So the clapping permitted for women is clapping out of need, not clapping out of joy.
The Shaykh:
Clapping out of need, yes.
May Allah reward you. In another question, he asks: Is it permissible to clap in parties, such as wedding parties?
The Shaykh:
Clapping in parties is not permissible. It is a characteristic of the disbelievers and one of the customs of the disbelievers. It is not permissible for Muslims to imitate the disbelievers in their customs and traditions. Rather, a woman claps when there is a need, clapping when there is a need, such as if she is praying in congregation behind the imam and the imam makes a mistake, she claps to alert him. The men say tasbih. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If you notice something when you are praying
إذا نابكم شيء في صلاتكمLikewise, a woman claps if she needs to alert someone to something. If someone asks for permission to enter while she is praying, she claps to alert the one who asked for permission. He asks for permission or calls her by name, and she lets him know that she is in prayer. So when there is a need, there is no harm in a woman clapping. As for the man, he does not clap at all. If it is to alert the imam in prayer, he says takbir, he says tasbih by saying Subhan Allah. And if he is pleased with something, he says takbir. Or if he is surprised by something or disapproves of something, he also says takbir, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do. This is what is prescribed when something strange happens or something disapproved of happens. What is prescribed for the man is to say takbir, and not to clap. Because clapping, first, is a characteristic of women, and men are prohibited from imitating women. Also, it is a custom and tradition of the disbelievers, and we are prohibited from imitating the disbelievers. And if the man does not clap when there is a need in prayer to alert the imam,
The presenter:
Mm.
The Shaykh:
then he should not clap outside of prayer when there is no need, a fortiori. Yes.
The presenter:
So the clapping permitted for women is clapping out of need, not clapping out of joy.
The Shaykh:
Clapping out of need, yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5547- حكم تصفيق الرجال والنساء في الحفلات ومناسبات الفرح - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.