Mukhtasar Muslim

Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not give a better and more generous wedding feast (walima) on the occasion of marrying any of his wives than he did for Umm al-Mu'mineen Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her). So Thabit Banani asked, "What did he (peace and blessings be upon him) serve at the walima?" He replied, "He (peace and blessings be upon him) served meat and bread, until the people ate to their fill and food was left over."

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) got married and entered upon his purified wife (may Allah be pleased with her), and my mother Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her) made some hais and placed it in a dish and said, “O Anas! Take this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” (From this it is proven that sending food to the new groom to help with the walima is recommended.) “And say that my mother has sent this especially for you in your service, and she sends her greetings, and she says: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! This is a very small gift from us in your service.” Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Then I took it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and I said, “My mother has sent me to you and sends her greetings, and she says: This is a very small gift from us in your service.” So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Put it down and go call so-and-so and so-and-so to us, and whoever you meet,” and he mentioned several people by name. So I brought those whom he named and also those whom I met. The narrator says: I asked Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), “How many people were there in total?” He said, “About three hundred.” And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me, “O Anas! Bring that dish.” Then those people came in until the Suffah, the platform, and the room were filled. (The Suffah is the place made for sitting outside, which is called the guest room.) Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Let ten people sit in a circle at a time (i.e., when they finish eating, then another ten should sit), and each person should eat from what is near him (i.e., do not break the top of the food, for the blessing descends from there).” Then they ate until all were satisfied, and one group would eat and leave, then another would come, until all had eaten. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me, “Anas, pick up this (dish),” and when I picked it up, it was not clear whether there was more food in it when I put it down or when I picked it up. And some people sat in the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and began talking, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was sitting, and his purified wife (i.e., Umm al-Mu’minin Zaynab, may Allah be pleased with her) was sitting with her face turned toward the wall. Their sitting was burdensome to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so he went out and greeted all his purified wives (may Allah be pleased with them) and then returned. When those people saw that they were being a burden to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), they quickly went to the door and all went out. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came and put up a curtain and entered inside, and I was sitting in the room. After a short while, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out to me, and these verses had been revealed to him, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out and recited to the people: “O you who believe! Do not enter the houses of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) unless permission is given to you for a meal, not (so early as) to wait for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter; and when you have eaten, disperse, without seeking to remain for conversation. Such (behavior) annoys the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and he is shy of (asking) you (to go); but Allah is not shy of (telling you) the truth...” to the end of the verse. (Al-Ahzab: 53). (The narrator of the hadith) Ja’d said that Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I was the first to hear and receive these verses, and the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) began to observe the veil.”