What is the ruling on the competitions held at weddings?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... In the name of Allah, and may prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. As for what follows:The questioner : Some of the brothers from the people of the Sunnah have been influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, and in wedding celebrations and such, they have started holding cultural competitions there and placing prizes for them.
The Shaykh : What kind of competitions do they hold?
The questioner : Competitions.
The Shaykh : Competitions, yes.
The questioner : And they place prizes for them, such as books; they may be on 'aqidah (creed), or they may be on other matters, meaning valuable books; so what is the ruling of Islam in this? Is this a Sunnah or a bid'ah (religious innovation)?
The Shaykh : I will shorten my answer to your question now. Your statement: "Is this a Sunnah?" What is this? In brief, what is it?
The questioner : It is what they do at weddings; they hold competitions and say that this is a means to da'wah (calling others to Islam).
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So I want the ruling on that? And some of them who recite the Qur'an bring some students and recite recitations.
The Shaykh : No, your first question is enough for now; this is a second question; so that the matter does not become mixed up for us. The prizes that they distribute on the occasion of a wedding; if they make that specific to the occasion of the wedding, it is not prescribed (mashru') to make it a regular Sunnah and a consistent practice. However, if they do that on any occasion from the perspective of encouragement, there is no harm in that, but with the same condition: that it not be made a regular Sunnah. Is this answer clear?
Now, what is your second question?
The Shaykh : What kind of competitions do they hold?
The questioner : Competitions.
The Shaykh : Competitions, yes.
The questioner : And they place prizes for them, such as books; they may be on 'aqidah (creed), or they may be on other matters, meaning valuable books; so what is the ruling of Islam in this? Is this a Sunnah or a bid'ah (religious innovation)?
The Shaykh : I will shorten my answer to your question now. Your statement: "Is this a Sunnah?" What is this? In brief, what is it?
The questioner : It is what they do at weddings; they hold competitions and say that this is a means to da'wah (calling others to Islam).
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So I want the ruling on that? And some of them who recite the Qur'an bring some students and recite recitations.
The Shaykh : No, your first question is enough for now; this is a second question; so that the matter does not become mixed up for us. The prizes that they distribute on the occasion of a wedding; if they make that specific to the occasion of the wedding, it is not prescribed (mashru') to make it a regular Sunnah and a consistent practice. However, if they do that on any occasion from the perspective of encouragement, there is no harm in that, but with the same condition: that it not be made a regular Sunnah. Is this answer clear?
Now, what is your second question?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.