His statement, “thamma,” means “there.” Many people—even students of knowledge—make a mistake and say “thumma,” because thumma is a conjunction, whereas thamma is an adverb of place. Thus, the meaning is: there must be no objectionable matter at the place of the invitation.

An objectionable matter is that which the Sacred Law and sound custom disapprove of, though what matters is the Sacred Law’s disapproval. Whatever the Sacred Law disapproves of is objectionable, even if custom accepts it, since some customs—may Allah protect us—approve of objectionable matters. Whatever the Sacred Law disapproves of is also disapproved of by sound reason and sound custom. Hence the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Sin is that which troubles your soul and which you would dislike people to discover.” (1) For people disapprove of it. This applies to people whose natural disposition is sound and whose conduct is upright.

However, if the invitee is able to remove the objectionable matter, then he must attend: both in response to the invitation and in order to remove it. For example, a man of scholarly standing or authority may be invited to a feast where something unlawful will take place; if he attends and is able to put an end to that unlawful matter, then attendance is obligatory for him, because he is able to remove the objectionable matter. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever among you sees an objectionable matter, let him change it with his hand.” (2)

But if he is unable to do so, then accepting an invitation to an unlawful feast is forbidden. The evidence for this is Allah’s saying: “And do not cooperate in sin and transgression.” [al-Ma'idah 5:2] Allah, Exalted is He, also says: “He has already revealed to you in the Book that when you hear Allah’s verses being denied and ridiculed, do not sit with them until they engage in another discourse. Indeed, you…”