Expense on Nikah - NikahExplorer
The difference between a wedding and a marriage is of prime importance to understand for a Muslim couple who is about to go for it. While the wedding just encompasses one day, a few hours, the term marriage is that of an entire lifetime. Have the difference clear in your mind and your relationship will be a huge success.
That is not to say that the day of the wedding, the nikah, is a very important part of the couple’s life for it is that ceremony that sets the foundation for the years ahead that they live together as man and wife. That is why every detail about the nikah is important, including the expenses that are incurred on it. In Islam it is recommended that a couple has a simple wedding, without much show of extravagance.
The Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said that “The marriage which is most greatly blessed is the one which is the lightest in burden [expense]. However, if people are well catered for, without extravagance and show, there is no problem with that either.” (Reported by Bayhaqi)
That meant that while there is obviously no harm to spend much to cater to the guests’ happiness, by no means should it be used as an excuse to show off your wealth and reputation and parade your pride, for Allah hates all of those things. That is why He has prescribed that the Nikah ceremony should be free of such shows and should focus on the prayers towards the new couple and sending them blessings. We should remember that glitter and extravagance show on the day of the marriage unnecessarily will not help to make the marriage work and will certainly not do good to the resources we use to make it happen.
When people spend lavishly at their weddings, there is a lot of wastage and Allah dislikes nothing more than waste. Allah has said so in the Quran as well, “But waste not by excess: for Allah loves not the wasters.” (Quran, 6:141). So we really think that we will receive Allah’s blessings at the start of our new life when we have obviously disappointed Him in our act of spending lavishly and wasting? Certainly not!
So we should keep our weddings as simple as possible such that to cater to our guests fully at the nikah and the walima and to ensure their blessings are received well. After all, marriage is a joyous occasion and we must celebrate it, but we can limit our expenses. InshAllah let us focus more on the life after the wedding that the ceremony itself.