Is it permissible for a person to seek out gatherings of people at weddings, celebrations, and the like in order to admonish them?
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The questioner : Is it permissible for a person to seek out gatherings of people at weddings, celebrations, and the like in order to admonish and advise them?
The Shaykh : As for the aspect of admonition, if there is a reason for it, it is done in any place. However, if this is made a regular practice, as if it were the reason for the gathering, we say this is an error. For example, if a person sees in a wedding or a large feast that it is appropriate to speak, and he sees that they are eager for his speech—people differ in this regard; some are men whose speech people look forward to and wish to hear—then we say the speech is good. Or if he is asked to speak, we also say speak, because you have been asked about knowledge, and if you are asked about knowledge, you convey it. But if a person is not of importance to the people, and the people do not anticipate his speech, and he imposes himself on them and speaks at such occasions, this is a burden on the people. Many people come to these celebrations to meet one another, spend a long time together, and inquire about their conditions and their relatives. This cuts off what they want, or if he speaks, it becomes a source of notoriety among the people. This is one point. Likewise, gatherings for condolence are even more severe. For a person to stand and preach to the attendees is an innovation upon an innovation, because the gathering for condolence is not prescribed in the first place, as the scholars have stated. Some of them disliked it with strong dislike, and some of them said it is an innovation, and the books of the jurists are before us. Likewise, what some people have introduced at the time of burial: one of them stands as a preacher and preaches and admonishes the people. This is also an innovation, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do this. The most that is reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he arrived at a grave with his Companions, and the grave had not yet been filled in, meaning the burial was not yet completed. So they sat down, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat with them and began to poke the ground with the end of his garment, and he informed them about the condition of the person at death and after burial. This was not a sermon; this was admonition. And it was not a regular practice that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did every time someone was buried. He did it because he was waiting for the grave to be filled in. Instead of remaining silent or speaking about something inappropriate, he spoke (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : As for the aspect of admonition, if there is a reason for it, it is done in any place. However, if this is made a regular practice, as if it were the reason for the gathering, we say this is an error. For example, if a person sees in a wedding or a large feast that it is appropriate to speak, and he sees that they are eager for his speech—people differ in this regard; some are men whose speech people look forward to and wish to hear—then we say the speech is good. Or if he is asked to speak, we also say speak, because you have been asked about knowledge, and if you are asked about knowledge, you convey it. But if a person is not of importance to the people, and the people do not anticipate his speech, and he imposes himself on them and speaks at such occasions, this is a burden on the people. Many people come to these celebrations to meet one another, spend a long time together, and inquire about their conditions and their relatives. This cuts off what they want, or if he speaks, it becomes a source of notoriety among the people. This is one point. Likewise, gatherings for condolence are even more severe. For a person to stand and preach to the attendees is an innovation upon an innovation, because the gathering for condolence is not prescribed in the first place, as the scholars have stated. Some of them disliked it with strong dislike, and some of them said it is an innovation, and the books of the jurists are before us. Likewise, what some people have introduced at the time of burial: one of them stands as a preacher and preaches and admonishes the people. This is also an innovation, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do this. The most that is reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he arrived at a grave with his Companions, and the grave had not yet been filled in, meaning the burial was not yet completed. So they sat down, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat with them and began to poke the ground with the end of his garment, and he informed them about the condition of the person at death and after burial. This was not a sermon; this was admonition. And it was not a regular practice that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did every time someone was buried. He did it because he was waiting for the grave to be filled in. Instead of remaining silent or speaking about something inappropriate, he spoke (peace and blessings be upon him).