Question:
What is the Sunnah method of going to one’s wife on the wedding night (shab-e-zifaf)? Because this matter is unclear to many people, and nowadays it has become a habit among most people that on this occasion they recite Surah al-Baqarah and offer prayer?
Answer:
When a man goes to his wife for the first time, he should hold her forehead and recite this supplication:
«اللهم إني أسألك خيرها وخير ما جبلتها عليه وأعوذيك من شرها و شر ما جبلتها عليه»
“O Allah! I ask You for her good and for the good of the nature upon which You created her, and I seek refuge in You from her evil and from the evil of the nature upon which You created her.”
And if he fears that she will be distressed when he holds her forehead and recites this supplication, then, if possible, he should hold her forehead in a manner that appears as though he is kissing her, and recite the supplication in his heart without troubling her. He may recite it with his tongue, but in such a way that his wife does not hear it, lest she become distressed. And if his wife is a student of (religious) knowledge, there is no harm in holding her forehead openly and reciting this supplication so that she hears it. As for offering two rak’ahs of prayer before the bride enters the bridal chamber, it is narrated from some of the earlier generations that they used to do so; therefore, if a person prays, it is good, and if he does not pray, there is no harm (because this is not a Sunnah practice. Translator). As for the recitation of Surah al-Baqarah and other surahs, I know of no evidence for it.
