A word from the Shaykh on adhering to the Shari'ah-compliant congratulation to the groom (May Allah bless you and bless upon you)

All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He misleads, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. , . As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. After that, it is fitting to mention, in this blessed occasion, if Allah wills, which is the marriage of our brother Ghazi to his wife, a marriage in which we hope there will be happiness in this world and the Hereafter. However, we should remind you of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which he taught his Companions on such a pleasant occasion. The people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance used to congratulate one another with a phrase that often contained no good, saying to one another when a man married, "With prosperity and sons." Some of them would congratulate others by saying, "With prosperity and sons." Perhaps all those present know that this custom has returned in our present era on the pages of newspapers, where the heading "With prosperity and sons" is written in large, bold letters, followed by an announcement that so-and-so has contracted his marriage to so-and-so, and they congratulate him with this pre-Islamic congratulation that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) invalidated, bringing us something better in its place, as was his custom (peace and blessings be upon him) and his constant practice. He did not bring us anything but good, just as the prophets before him brought good, let alone that he brought good beyond what existed in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, . There is no prophet sent by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon whom it was not obligatory to guide his ummah to the best of what he knew for them. This is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did, following those who preceded him of the messengers and prophets, implementing and applying the saying of our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He), . The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed this in another hadith, in which he said (peace and blessings be upon him), . So what did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) bring as a replacement for that old pre-Islamic custom and this modern pre-Islamic custom, "With prosperity and sons"? What is the replacement brought by the Master of the Messengers (may the best of prayers and peace be upon him)? It is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . This is the supplication that all Muslims should adhere to and use to congratulate their Muslim brother when he marries a Muslim sister. He should say to him, . I know that this custom, or this blessing, is a neglected and abandoned matter among many Muslims, if not most Muslims today. This is due, on the one hand, to their distance from learning the Sunnah of their Prophet, and, on the other hand, to their distance from applying what they know of the Sunnah. This is the case with men; what can be said about women? They are even further from practicing this Sunnah among themselves, one saying to her Muslim sister on the occasion of her marriage, . This is the blessing that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) brought and taught us as a replacement for the blessing of the old and new pre-Islamic age, which is their saying, "With prosperity and sons."