What is the ruling on celebrating the festival?

The questioner : How can one celebrate the festival, for example? And remind you, if Allah wills, of the hadith of the Abyssinians, and the hadith of Aisha when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon her and two maidservants were in front of her, and they were singing?

The Shaykh : Yes, first of all, the expression "celebrating the festival" is not Islamic. There is no such thing as a celebration. This is also a foreign matter in Islam. There is only a festival, as he (peace be upon him) said to Abu Bakr in the story you referred to So, Muslims, above all, are concerned with performing the festival prayer in the prayer ground, if they are able to do so. If they are not able to do so, then in the mosque, according to what is facilitated for them. As for the other things, they are permissible at all times and in all places. And our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), with His perfect wisdom, permitted striking the hand drum only, and nothing else, in the wedding and on the day of the festival. This does not mean that we should hold celebrations as the Europeans do, and as we have seen them in the public squares and general gatherings, bringing in music, choirs, and the like, and dancing and being delighted, and so on. None of that is in Islam. This permission that the Messenger (peace be upon him) permitted is a personal permission, as you saw or read in the hadith of the two maidservants. The Messenger did not celebrate, and Abu Bakr did not celebrate, and Umar did not celebrate, if we want to use this word, the word "celebration." Rather, if a small girl or maidservant wants to strike the hand drum, and the hand drum only, and nothing else, it is not permissible for the adults to disapprove of that. This is what happened, and this is what is approved and permissible to disapprove of. As for building upon that palaces and castles, and celebrations and music and the like, this is an unlegislated expansion by the consensus of the scholars. Yes.