The Marriage Feast

The walima is the wedding feast in Islam, hosted by the groom after the marriage, and is the customary public announcement of a union that has already been concluded by contract. The tradition strongly encourages it: reports in the hadith collections describe the Prophet Muhammad urging a companion to hold a walima even if only with a single sheep, and accepting invitations to such feasts is treated in the legal tradition as a communal courtesy that should not lightly be refused. Its purpose is social as much as celebratory, to make the marriage known, so that the couple's new status is public and witnessed by the wider community, guarding against secret or unacknowledged unions. Its scale varies enormously with means and custom, from a modest meal to a large gathering, but the principle that a marriage should be openly proclaimed and shared runs through the practice across the Muslim world.