❖ Source:
This fatwa is taken from the book “500 Questions & Answers for Women”, based on the verdicts of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.
✿ Question:
What is the ruling on attending un-Islamic gatherings and wedding functions with the intention of calling people towards Allah (Daʿwah ilā Allāh)?
✿ Answer:
If the person attending such gatherings has the ability to prevent or correct the objectionable acts (munkarāt) taking place therein, then attending such events is a commendable act.
In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, it is narrated from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr رضی الله عنہما that the Prophet ﷺ said regarding this:
«وَ مَنْ لَمْ يُجِبْ فَقَدْ عَصَى اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ»
"And whoever does not respond (to an invitation), has indeed disobeyed Allah and His Messenger."
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Ḥadīth no. 1432]
Therefore, accepting invitations such as walīmah (wedding feast) or ʿaqīqah (newborn celebration) is obligatory when invited.
✦ However, if the believing individual fears that there will be sinful or impermissible acts at such a gathering and they do not have the ability to stop them, then it becomes incumbent to avoid such gatherings.
✦ On the other hand, if one is capable of addressing those wrongs through advice, guidance, and religious exhortation, then their presence with the intent of Daʿwah is not only permissible but indeed virtuous.
وَاللهُ المُستعان
[Shaykh Muqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī رحمه الله]