We ask you to clarify what is prescribed and what is not prescribed in weddings.

The questioner : What are the steps followed in the Shari'ah regarding the marriage of a Muslim? I mean the ceremonies, such as the lights, the gathering of people for the lecture, the voices of the women, singing, the wailing, and the wedding feast?

The Shaykh : There is an authentic hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), namely his saying: . Announce this marriage and beat the hand drum for it. Then there are other hadiths in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged some women to sing on the occasion of a wedding. It is mentioned in some of the Sunan collections: .
Singing like this, which is said today, is innocent singing. There is no harm in Muslim women singing it and beating the hand drum for it, but this is limited to only two days: the day of the wedding and the day of the festival. This is because the hand drum is one of the instruments of amusement and one of the instruments of pleasure on which Islam has forbidden playing, as evidenced by many hadiths. The most authentic of them is what Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih, either as a comment or as a connected chain, with a disagreement among scholars, from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: .
So, musical instruments, in the terminology of the scholars of language, are all instruments of pleasure, with nothing excepted from them. The Shari'ah has only excepted the hand drum for the wedding and for the festival. As for the wedding, you have just heard his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . As for the addition on the occasion, I say, as for the addition: . This is a denounced hadith that is not valid, neither in its chain nor in its meaning.
As for beating the hand drum on the day of the festival, it is based on the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: .
From this hadith, the scholars derived this second exception for the hand drum. The first is for the wedding, which is permissible.
It is one of the musical instruments, and the second exception is for the festival, based on his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, rebuking Abu Bakr's (may Allah be pleased with him) rebuke, by saying: "Is there a flute of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He said: "Let them be."

The questioner : What about the young men on the days of the festival?

Another questioner : I mean the males.

Another questioner : Groups of nasheeds?

The Shaykh : Are you asking? The time for asking has not come yet.
Let them be, O Abu Bakr, for every people has a festival, and this is our festival.
This hadith contains precise jurisprudence.
First of all: We understand from Abu Bakr's (may Allah be pleased with him) saying, "Is there a flute of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah," that the hand drum is a flute, that the hand drum is one of the musical instruments, and therefore it is not permissible to allow it except in these two places.
The second point: How did Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) step forward before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and rebuke the two girls for beating the hand drum while they were in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?
Would Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), or anyone less than Abu Bakr in knowledge and character, dare to do so? No, unless he had prior knowledge. And here is the second precise point of jurisprudence.
Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) only rebuked the two girls because he was scrupulous and understood from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that beating the hand drum is not permissible absolutely. Therefore, he dared to rebuke them.
Here came the new jurisprudence for Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: . This also has a long and very long discussion, and I will suffice for now with what you have heard. And before we rise to pray, I will answer the question of the brother here just now: Is it permissible for men to beat the hand drums?
The answer: No. The hand drums, as you have heard and I am repeating now, the original ruling is prohibition. And anything whose original ruling is prohibition, and then a part of it is excepted, it is not permissible to increase the exception. So here, beating was excepted in terms of time for two times: the wedding and the festival, and in terms of people, women other than men. So the men fall under the general text, and the women share with them in the general text, but they are excepted with regard to the festival and the wedding. And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.

The questioner : Visit us.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills, we will visit you again. Now we bid you farewell, and peace be upon you.