Is the wedding banquet obligatory, and is one who foregoes it sinful, given the possibility of utilizing its exorbitant cost to help the couple, and can it be compensated by slaughtering livestock and distributing it to the poor to act upon the two Hadiths: "Hold a wedding banquet even if it be with one sheep," and "The worst food is the food of the wedding banquet to which the rich are invited and the poor are left out, and whoever forsakes an invitation has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him)"?
The wedding feast (walima) is recommended, not obligatory, and there is no sin upon one who omits it. The meaning of the "The worst of food is the food of the walima" is a prophecy of what will occur among people after the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, namely, the exclusive invitation of the rich and their prioritization. So, if the walima does not exclusively invite the rich and does not turn away the poor, then it ceases to be "the worst of food." There is no objection to limiting the walima to one's relatives, making it a small gathering. As for distributing food and meat instead of gathering people for it, this does not fulfill the , for walima is derived from the concept of gathering, and its purpose is to publicize and announce the marriage.
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Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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