Bahth fi Ijabat al-Dawa
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- Editions
- Islamic University of Madinah
Bahth fi Ijabat al-Dawa (A Study on Responding to Invitations) is a juristic and Hadith treatise by the Saudi scholar Ibrahim al-Ubayd examining the legal rulings, prophetic traditions, and scholarly opinions regarding accepting banquet and social invitations in Islamic law.
Background and Purpose
The treatise was completed by Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Ubayd al-Ubayd on 1 Muharram 1417 AH (1996 CE) in Medina during his tenure as an assistant professor at the College of the Noble Hadith and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah. It was published in the Journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Issue 111).
Al-Ubayd noted that he wrote the work in response to the growing frequency of invitations in modern times—including those for weddings, marriage contracts (imlak), birth feasts (aqiqah), and guest receptions—which had caused many Muslims uncertainty or social discomfort regarding which occasions they are religiously required or encouraged to attend.
Sources and Methodology
The author based his study on a comprehensive compilation of traditions on the topic from major Hadith collections, including the Nine Books, the musannafs of Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani and Ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Tirmidhi's al-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah, the works of al-Tahawi, the three ma'ajim of al-Tabarani, al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan, al-Baghawi's Sharh al-Sunnah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's al-Matalib al-Aliyah, and al-Haythami's compilations. Rather than separating the texts into independent Hadith and legal chapters, he integrated the chains of transmission, hadith grading, and juristic analysis into the body of the legal discussion to avoid repetition.
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized into an introduction, two core research sections, and a conclusion:
- Introduction: Outlines the rationale, framework, and textual methodology of the research.
- First Section (Hukm Ijabat al-Dawa): Analyzes the legal ruling on responding to invitations. It reviews the prophetic practices and compares divergent juristic views, notably the position holding attendance to be an absolute obligation (wajib) for all invitations—advocated by figures such as Ibn Hazm and al-Shawkani—versus the position regarding it as an absolute recommendation (sunnah), held by scholars including Ibn Abd al-Barr, alongside school-specific distinctions between wedding banquets (walima) and other meals.
- Second Section (al-Akl li-Man Du'iya Idha Hadar): Examines whether an invited individual is legally required or merely recommended to eat the provided food once present at the gathering, including provisions concerning fasting guests.
- Conclusion: Summarizes the primary findings and preferred legal assessments deduced in the research.
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