Nikkah Dinner and/or Waleema?? What's the Sunnah???

[asher]

As salamu alaykum,

Here's the background...

A few years back a relative was getting married and he said that at his nikkah he was not going to feed the guests a meal claiming that it was not the sunnah. Rather it was sunnah to feed the guests some dates and a drink. (No proof was given and I am still trying to find some narration on this).
The next day was the waleemah which consisted of the dinner.

Next ensued a quite lengthy debate as to whether this was correct to not have a dinner the day of the nikkah.

So would having a dinner for guests who travelled rather far distances be part of the etiquettes of a host or would the "sunnah" (I use quotes as i have not found any narrations, and islam-qa is vague when it comes to the term wedding party and waleemah) be binding in this case.

This is not the situation where the nikkah is attened by a handful of people. The nikkah was attended by the usual 350-450 friends, family, people you've seen once in your life. Also bear in mind, the reason was not to prevent wasteful spending.

It's not the issue of the food, its a matter of the sunnah (and the role of the host).

If anyone has any narration of the nikkah's during the time of the prophet, please do share.

Jazakallahu khayran

[midnight stroller]

Nikkah originally means 'aqd', or 'uniting'. Nikkah has also been described in the Quran as 'covenant'. Hence, nikkah is a contract between husband and a wife in teh presence of human witnesses and under the vigilance of the All-Seeing Lord, Master of the Universe.The mutual consent is technically called ijab (affirmation or declaration) and qubul (acceptance or consent) in Fiqh. This shows that nikkah is verbally ratified and enacted on paper. In the entire sahi Muslim, vol.2 Kitabul Nikkah I did not read a single hadith pertaining a nikkah feast or ceremony. According to this website (http://www.themodernreligion.com/family/wed-fatima.html), distrubution of dates occured after the nikkah of Fatima radi Allahu anha. According to this site, one of the things we learn from Fatima radi Allahu anha's nikkah is that the only wedding feast legislated by the Shari3a, is Walima.

Walima, can be loosely translated as a marriage banquet. It is derived from the word, ‘walam’ meaning to gather or assemble. Walima is a sunnah of Rasool Allah sallahu alyihi wa sallam.
Anas ibn Malik radi Allahu anhu narrates that Rasool Allah sallahu alyihi wa sallam saw a yellow mark on Abdur Rahman ibn Awf radi Allahu anhu and said: “What’s this?” He replied: “I have married a woman with the dowry being gold to the weight of a date-stone.” Rasool Allah sallahu alyihi wa sallam said said: “May Allah bless you (in your marriage), perform a Walima, even if it is only with a goat.” (Sahih al-Bukhari,no. 4872)
Rasool Allah sallahu alyihi wa sallam himself provided a Walima after many of his marriages. He provided meat and bread on the occasion of his marriage with Zaynab bint Jahsh radi Allahu anha, Hays (a type of sweat-dish cooked with dates, cheese & butter) on the occasion of his marriage with Safiyya radi Allahu anha and barley on another occasion. (See: Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim)

Thus, it is a Sunna and strongly recommended to have a Walima. Ibn Qudamah, the great Hanbali Imam, states in his renowned al-Mugni: “There is no difference of opinion between the scholars, in that Walima is a prescribed Sunnah at the time of marriage, for the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) ordered it and himself practiced it…..It is not necessary (wajib) in the opinion of most of the scholars.” (al-Mugni, 7/1-2).

Source: http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/walima.htm


-Wallahu 3alam.

As salamu alaykum,
So would having a dinner for guests who travelled rather far distances be part of the etiquettes of a host or would the "sunnah" (I use quotes as i have not found any narrations, and islam-qa is vague when it comes to the term wedding party and waleemah) be binding in this case. If you look at first hadith, in which Abdur Rahman bin Awf had yellow mark and he informed rasool Allah sallahu alyihi wa sallam that he got married. From this hadith, I get the impression that nikkah and walima were ordinary events for the sahaba radi Allahu anhum. It wasnt somethin they threw big feasts for or celebrated at a massive scale. Only a handful of people were invited over for a meal and at times Rasool Allah sallahu alyihi wa sallam was not even invited or informed. You would think that at least he would solemnise the marriage, but many times, this wasn't the case.


Entertainment is the opium of masses. If you want to control a nation, give them toys to play with and make sure you throw tons of parties.