The Ruling on Exaggeration in Bridal Gifts and Wedding Feasts
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Question: He also says: Some fathers go to extremes with the bridal gifts. We want you to advise them, perhaps Allah will guide them in this matter.
Answer: This is a general matter and a great calamity, namely the exaggeration in bridal gifts. My advice to every Muslim is to abandon this, and to beware of exaggerating in the bridal gift of his daughter, sister, or other relative. He should be lenient in this and be satisfied with a suitable bridal gift that helps the woman meet her known needs, without overburdening the husband or preventing the marriage. Everyone complains about this issue of exaggeration in bridal gifts, and also about exaggeration in wedding feasts. Both are harmful. The guardians and the women themselves should not be strict in this matter; the woman, her mother, and her relatives should be satisfied with what is appropriate, just as the father and the other guardians are satisfied with it. Sometimes the father or guardian may be satisfied, but her mother, sister, or others are not, and her mother may perhaps push him toward exaggeration.
In conclusion: This is required of everyone; it is required of the mother, the paternal aunt, and the daughter herself, it is required of the father, it is required of the brothers, and it is required of the grandfathers. They should all cooperate in facilitating the bridal gifts and avoiding exaggeration, so that the marriage of their female relatives becomes easy.
However, with exaggeration, the daughter remains confined to the house, and only a few people propose to her, for not everyone has the strength to pay a high bridal gift. Moreover, this is not permissible, because exaggeration in bridal gifts leads to great corruption, to the idling of daughters and sisters, and the idling of young men, and to falling into major sins. All of this has great evil and a dire consequence.
Likewise, regarding wedding feasts, one should not compete in them. Instead of slaughtering ten or fifteen animals, one should suffice with one, two, or three. Instead of inviting one hundred or two hundred people, one should invite five or ten of his closest relatives and suffice with that, so that the expense is less and he is able to propose for marriage. But if it is mentioned that there are wedding feasts that require thousands, or even tens of thousands, along with an exaggerated bridal gift, then all of this causes the idling of both the man and the woman. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone. Yes.
Answer: This is a general matter and a great calamity, namely the exaggeration in bridal gifts. My advice to every Muslim is to abandon this, and to beware of exaggerating in the bridal gift of his daughter, sister, or other relative. He should be lenient in this and be satisfied with a suitable bridal gift that helps the woman meet her known needs, without overburdening the husband or preventing the marriage. Everyone complains about this issue of exaggeration in bridal gifts, and also about exaggeration in wedding feasts. Both are harmful. The guardians and the women themselves should not be strict in this matter; the woman, her mother, and her relatives should be satisfied with what is appropriate, just as the father and the other guardians are satisfied with it. Sometimes the father or guardian may be satisfied, but her mother, sister, or others are not, and her mother may perhaps push him toward exaggeration.
In conclusion: This is required of everyone; it is required of the mother, the paternal aunt, and the daughter herself, it is required of the father, it is required of the brothers, and it is required of the grandfathers. They should all cooperate in facilitating the bridal gifts and avoiding exaggeration, so that the marriage of their female relatives becomes easy.
However, with exaggeration, the daughter remains confined to the house, and only a few people propose to her, for not everyone has the strength to pay a high bridal gift. Moreover, this is not permissible, because exaggeration in bridal gifts leads to great corruption, to the idling of daughters and sisters, and the idling of young men, and to falling into major sins. All of this has great evil and a dire consequence.
Likewise, regarding wedding feasts, one should not compete in them. Instead of slaughtering ten or fifteen animals, one should suffice with one, two, or three. Instead of inviting one hundred or two hundred people, one should invite five or ten of his closest relatives and suffice with that, so that the expense is less and he is able to propose for marriage. But if it is mentioned that there are wedding feasts that require thousands, or even tens of thousands, along with an exaggerated bridal gift, then all of this causes the idling of both the man and the woman. There is no power and no strength except with Allah. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone. Yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.