As for Tree Week, it appears that it is not held as an act of worship, so it is less serious; nevertheless, we do not endorse it.

As for a week or conference devoted to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, this is not a festival, because it is not recurrent. Its benefit is clear: it brings together information about the life and writings of this shaykh, and considerable benefit has resulted from it.

Issue: The ceremonies held upon students’ graduation or upon their memorization of the Quran do not constitute the establishment of a festival, for two reasons:

First: they are not repeated for those being celebrated.

Second: they have a present occasion, rather than commemorating a past event.

His statement: “It is a communal obligation.” The author, may Allah have mercy on him, indicates that it is obligatory. This is the first view on the issue. It is well known that an obligation requires evidence, and the evidence for this is as follows:

1. The Prophet ﷺ “commanded the women to go out for the Eid prayer. He even commanded menstruating women and women in seclusion to go out, so that they might witness goodness and the supplication of the Muslims; and he commanded menstruating women to keep away from the place of prayer” (1). A command indicates obligation. If the Prophet ﷺ commanded women, then men are even more deserving of the command, since the basic presumption regarding women is that they are not among those required to attend public gatherings. For this reason, congregational prayer in the mosques is not legislated for them. Thus, his commanding them to go out to the Eid prayer-ground, to perform the Eid prayer and witness goodness and the supplication of the Muslims, indicates that it is even more obligatory for men—and that is indeed the case.