Chapter: The Wedding Banquet (walīmah)

Linguistically, the root of the word walīmah conveys the sense of something being perfected and joined together. One says, “awlama al-rajul” when a man’s intellect and character come together in harmony. This meaning was later transferred to the meal served on the occasion of marriage, because it marks the union of husband and wife. In classical Arabic as well as in juristic usage, the term walīmah is reserved exclusively for the wedding feast; other kinds of food prepared for different occasions each bear their own specific names.

Ruling: According to the consensus of the scholars, holding a wedding walīmah is a recommended sunnah. A number of jurists went further and deemed it obligatory, citing the Prophet’s command to do so and the legal duty to accept such an invitation. When ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, may Allah be pleased with him, informed the Prophet—Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he had married, the Prophet said: “Hold a walīmah, even if it be with a single sheep” (agreed upon).

The Prophet—Allah bless him and grant him peace—held walīmahs for his wives Zaynab, Ṣafiyyah, and Maymūnah bint al-Ḥārith.