An interjection by the bride's guardian and a discussion of the legal contract, his reduction of his daughter's mahr, and the Shaykh's praise of him.

The questioner : The groom's family apologizes for the son who spoke in the presence ofThe Shaykh : and the brothers, for whatever may be in the mind of any of the brothers, and everything is by divine decree. We say that we preferred to delay so that we might hear a word fromThe Shaykh : and benefit from it scientifically. Also, it is well known that this written contract is a formal matter, something that has come upon the community recently. As for the legal contract, as we learned from our Shaykh, it is the offer and acceptance from both parties, the guardian, meaning the guardian and the witnesses. This matter is facilitated, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. It has taken place by the grace of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). But this legal contract is what we are currently dealing with. May no one blame us; may Allah guide the brother and forgive him.

The Shaykh : That is, we are now on the way to announcing the marriage in a scholarly manner, whereas the legal contract was concluded previously, glory be to Allah.

The questioner : Even for the sake of knowledge and the leniency of Islam, so that we may benefit and learn. After we accepted the brother to be the husband of my daughter, in the presence of his father and with the testimony of two women, the contract was made. My son Abdullah ... one witness and two women as witnesses for the man, and the contract was made easily, as it is said, on a moonless night, O our Shaykh. So praise be to Allah for His leniency. I told him, "I love what we learned from our Shaykh, may Allah reward you. You are able, regarding the mahr, to do what you can, and I do not restrict you." On this occasion, O our Shaykh, I had read a hadith in the book *Tuhfat al-'Aris* (The Bride's Gift) that when 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked for Fatimah from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: We said we would verify the authenticity of this hadith, and after consulting our Shaykh to benefit, if this hadith is said by the Shaykh to beThe Shaykh : not authentic, we benefit from the fact that this hadith is not authentic, but the meaning is good.

The Shaykh : And we ask Allah to bless you all, because you facilitated the marriage and entrusted the suitor to pay whatever mahr is easy for him. This is what facilitates for the Muslim youth today the realization of some of the authentic hadiths that encourage marriage. The brother Abu al-Harith mentioned a hadith, and I praise him with another, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This approach of leniency toward the suitors of our daughters is what resolves the knot and the problem of the withdrawal and turning away of youth from marriage due to the high cost of mahr and the many expenses of preparing homes and the like. So we say, may Allah bless you and bless upon you, and unite them in goodness.

The questioner : We introduce you to the groom. O groom, O bride, come.

The Shaykh : Yes, the bride.

The questioner : The brother Sabri al-Afghani is the groom for my daughter, meaning the groom, so that we correct the language and do not become accustomed to common terms. He is the groom for my daughter, so he speaks before you with what his soul offers regarding the mahr, so that we do not impose an advance or a deferred portion. What does he impose on himself so that you may hear, so that we apply the Sunnah practically?

The questioner : May Allah reward our Shaykh Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Din al-Albani with every reward. We apologize on behalf of our family for what came from our brother Fawaz. I ask for your forgiveness. This is first. And may Allah reward you for the good word that he and our brother 'Ali delivered. May Allah reward you all. We have, if Allah wills, accepted the marriage to our brother Abdullah's daughter with a mahr that we assessed for ourselves at one thousand dinars, if Allah wills. Also, the furniture for the house is three thousand dinars, and there is no deferred mahr. By this, we have accepted the application of the Sunnah, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good, and you presented that as a gift, meaning with a willing heart. May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : ... Ibn al-Qayyim said that the other half in the fear of Allah is the tongue?

The Shaykh : No, it is not.

The questioner : He cited that as evidence that people.

The Shaykh : No, it is broader than that. I do not know if Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned anything of this, but without a doubt, the second half is broader than that. What were we discussing?

The questioner : About the hadith.

The Shaykh : About the hadith, yes.
We said that the indication of the hadith regarding the prohibition of musical instruments is from two aspects. The first aspect is his saying "they make lawful." The second aspect is the indication of association. The jurists say that the indication of association is not strong, and this is correct. But if it comes in a context like this, which contains the first explicit indication, then the indication of association takes on strength. So his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): meaning zina, meaning local silk, these three matters are definitively forbidden, because the hadiths regarding zina, we said, are supported by the Qur'an, and the prohibition of silk is by hadiths that reach the level of mutawatir (mass-transmitted). As for the prohibition of khamr (intoxicants), you know that it is forbidden by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. These three matters, whose prohibition is definitive, are associated with the prohibition of musical instruments. Therefore, it is not permissible to say that there is no text in the Shari'ah that prohibits musical instruments. And unfortunately, some Islamic writers today say there is no definitive evidence for the prohibition of musical instruments. We say, if you mean definitive in the technical juristic sense, this is not necessary, because many matters are forbidden and their indication is not definitive in the sense of being certain in establishment and certain in indication. With this, I wanted to draw attention, supporting what our brother Abu al-Harith mentioned earlier, that what is practiced today in many wedding ceremonies is bringing in a musical band. This is among the forbidden things that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us would occur in this community. So every Muslim should take a lesson from this hadith. If he does not have a marriage contract for someone he is responsible for, it is not permissible for him to allow beating on musical instruments, on any of these musical instruments, absolutely, except beating on the duff (hand drum) only, and only by women, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): So beating on the duff, as you heard, is specific to women and not men. As for musical instruments other than the duff, from the instruments of entertainment, they fall under the generality of this hadith: So all musical instruments are forbidden at all times. The only exception is the duff in the wedding and in the festival, only, due to the hadith of 'Aishah in *al-Sahihayn* (the two authentic collections) when Abu Bakr al-Siddiq entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was lying down, and there were two slave girls singing with the singing of Ba'ath. Abu Bakr said, "Is there a flute of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head and said: If the duff is the only exception from musical instruments, and beating on the duff is excepted from all days of the year on the occasion of marriage, the marriage contract, and on the occasion of only two festivals, which are 'Id al-Fitr and 'Id al-Adha, there is nothing beyond that in the exceptions. And now, since we have reached the middle of the night, we ask permission from our brother Abu 'Abdullah to leave, if Allah wills, and we leave the matter to Abu 'Abdullah to look into it, if Allah wills, and to grant us permission to leave.