Garments for Each Other — Page 43
43 pressure of society, then they can easily get caught up in the other kinds as well and then these kinds of things may start here in the Jama’at as well. Thus, every Ahmadi should remember his or her status; that it is a blessing of Allah Almighty, that He has enabled them to join the Jama’at of the Promised Messiah (as). Now it is their duty to follow true Islamic teachings. In regard to marriages, the only obligatory act according to Islamic teaching is the marriage itself, so an event can be arranged for that. If one has the means, one can serve dinner as well. However, it is not obligatory for every marriage ceremony that guests must be invited and dinner served at the arrival of the bridegroom and his family. If the groom’s party is coming from afar, then dinner can be arranged just for them. But if the laws of the country prohibit this, then one should not serve dinner in that fashion and should only have limited dinner arrangements at one’s home for family members and the few people who have come with the groom. This is because at one time the laws of Pakistan had imposed restrictions. I do not know what the current situation is but to some extent, restrictions still exist. The other obligatory event is the Walimah which is the actual commandment for the groom’s family to invite their near ones and to serve them a meal. In fact, in Islam this is the only wedding occasion for which the commandment to serve a meal has been given. But even that need not be on a large scale. One can invite people and serve a meal according to one's own means. So, as I mentioned, Allah has communicated to us the purpose of our creation. Every act that is an act of goodness, and is for the sake of pleasing God Almighty, becomes an act of worship. If we keep this in mind, then this alone will become our salvation and through this we can save ourselves from these customs. We can save ourselves from wrongful innovations in faith, we can