The window in which the wedding walīmah may be hosted is spacious: it may be held any time from the signing of the marriage contract up until the close of the wedding days.

As for its size, some jurists have said that it should not be less than a sheep, and that providing more is preferable, based on the Prophet’s words to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, “Hold a walīmah even with a single sheep.” That applies when one can readily afford it; otherwise, each person offers whatever he is able.

The Prophet—Allah bless him and grant him peace—once held a walīmah for Ṣafiyyah with ḥays, a sweet made of flour, clarified butter, and dried curds mixed together, which he served on a small leather mat. This shows that the walīmah is valid even when no sheep is slaughtered.

Extravagance in the wedding walīmah is impermissible. Yet nowadays it is common for people to slaughter large numbers of sheep—and even camels—and to heap up food in ostentatious excess, only for much of it to remain uneaten and end up in rubbish bins, wasted. Such behavior is forbidden by the Sacred Law, rejected by sound reason, and places those who do it—or approve of it—at risk of punishment and the loss of blessings.

Moreover, such lavish banquets are typically accompanied by arrogance and self-indulgence, and by gatherings that seldom remain free of objectionable practices. Many are staged in hotels where women often neglect proper covering and modesty, mingling with men in ways whose dire consequences are feared. The festivities are frequently laced with songs and musical instruments; dissolute entertainers are hired, along with unscrupulous photographers who shoot pictures of the women and of the bride and groom. Enormous sums of money are squandered at these parties for no benefit whatsoever—rather, merely for the sake of—