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- The prohibition of limiting the invitation to the wealthy
It is impermissible to restrict the invitation to the well-to-do and leave out the poor, for the Prophet ﷺ said:
“The worst food is the food of a wedding banquet: the rich are invited to it while the poor are turned away. Whoever does not respond to the invitation has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.” 1.
(1) Muslim, 4/154, and al-Bayhaqi, 7/262, transmit the report from Abu Hurayra as marfuʿ (attributed to the Prophet), while al-Bukhari, 9/201, records it as mawqūf (a statement of Abu Hurayra himself). Ibn Hajar nevertheless treats it as effectively marfuʿ, explaining in his commentary on the phrase “the wealthy are invited to it” that “the clause functions adverbially, qualifying the food of the walīma (wedding feast); had the host issued a general invitation, his meal would not have been the worst of meals.” I have traced the hadith in Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, no. 1947, where its various chains and corroborating narrations are set out.
٢٨- تحريم تخصيص الأغنياء بالدعوة:
ولا يجوز أن يخص بالدعوة الأغنياء دون الفقراء لقوله ﷺ:
"شر الطعام طعام الوليمة يدعى لها الأغنياء ويمنعها المساكين ومن لم يجب الدعوة فقط عصى الله ورسوله" ١.
١ رواه مسلم ٤/١٥٤ والبيهقي ٧/٢٦٢ من حديث أبي هريرة مرفوعا وهو عند البخاري ٩/٢٠١ موقوفا عليه. وهو في حكم المرفوع كما بينه الحافظ في شرح قوله: "يدعى لها الأغنياء":
"والجملة في موضع الحال لطعام الوليمة فلو دعا الداعي عاما لم يكن طعامه شر الطعام".
ثم خرجت الحديث في "الإرواء" وذكرت له فيه طرقا وشواهد ١٩٤٧.