What is the appropriate action and acceptable excuse for not attending meetings or occasions dominated by backbiting, slander, and boasting, especially with household responsibilities and a desire to utilize time for worship and reading, particularly if the caller harbors malice and speaks ill?

The Muslim's rights over another Muslim are five, among them answering an invitation, which is divided into two categories: obligatory, such as a wedding feast unless there is a legitimate excuse, and recommended for other invitations.

Scholars have stipulated conditions for answering an invitation, among them:

1. That there is no reprehensible act present at the place of invitation that cannot be removed. 2. That the inviter is not someone whose abandonment is obligatory. 3. That the inviter is a Muslim. 4. That the food of the feast is permissible. 5. That answering the invitation does not entail neglecting an obligation or something more obligatory. 6. That it does not involve harm to the invitee. 7. That the inviter specifically extends the invitation to the invitee.

Attending invitations may not be binding and may be forbidden if it involves a reprehensible act that cannot be changed, or the neglect of the rights of the husband or children. A woman must seek her husband's permission to go out. It is recommended to fill gatherings with remembrance of Allah due to its virtue and goodness.