Is It Permissible for the Bride’s Father to Host and Pay for a Feast Dedicated to the Bridegroom?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I’m from Kashmir, and on the wedding day, the bride’s family (girl) gives a wedding feast to people (relatives, friends, neighbors, etc.) and then gives a feast to the bridegroom and the people accompanying him.

Is it permissible for the father of the bride to host and pay for a feast dedicated to the bridegroom and his family, friends, neighbors, etc.?

It should be noted that the party’s costs are borne solely by the bride’s father.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

There is nothing in the Sacred law that would prohibit or deem reprehensible the hosting of a feast by the father of the bride.

If this is the custom that is practiced, there is no issue in keeping up the custom as long as the following conditions are met:

1. That the custom is not seen as a religious obligation, necessity, or a Prophetic practice (sunna);
2. That the custom does not cause an undue financial burden for the host of the family;
3. That the custom does not entail great lavishness and squandering of wealth. (i.e., expenditure far above and beyond what would suffice such a gathering, keeping in mind the occasion and the number of attendees.)

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.