Wedding Customs - A call to the Sunnah

acting on her behalf or at least being present to show that he consents
to the wedding. There must be two male Muslim witnesses, or one
male and two females, of good character and standing. There must be
a previously agreed Mahr, given to the bride and not to her parents,
which reflects the groom's financial capacity and the bride's social
standing 1 .There should be a public celebration open to all, usually
after marital relations between husband and wife, known as Wal|mah.
It is reported on the authority of Ab[ Hurayrah t, that the Prophet r
said, "The worst food is the food of the wedding feast (Wal|mah) to
which the rich are invited and the poor are left out. If anyone rejects an
invitation, he has rebelled against All\h and His Messenger"
Bukh\r| & Muslim
It is against the Sunnah to refuse an invitation to a Wal|mah, which is
conducted according to the Shar|`ah, without a valid excuse.
Innovations come under several headings in the Shar|`ah: obligatory,
recommended, permitted, frowned upon and *ar\m. However,
Muslims are not allowed to introduce new matters; that is only
permitted to the leader of the Muslims, the Khal|fah or an Am|r to
whom the Muslims have pledged allegiance in consultation with the
men of knowledge. They alone can judge if a matter is permitted or
not.
A simple definition of innovation is where one adds something new to
the D|n as a necessary part of it. It may be noted that the invention and
introduction of something new other than D|n is not innovation 2.
The most serious innovations in a wedding are those which enter into
any of the above key elements. Thus, if the bride's guardian is not
present or does not agree 3, if the dowry is miserably little and the
groom can easily afford better; or it is so extravagant that the groom is
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